hardly never ordinary

i was with a friend earlier when we decided to see tim burton’s alice in wonderland. it wasn’t as amazing as i thought it would be. i mean the visuals were great and all and as usual johnny depp was eerily good, but the movie was missing something. well i’m no critic but i don’t think this goth, slash, emo-ish version would garner much praise.

what is was more surprised was when my friend told me that she has never read the book. and she actually compared alice to thumbelina!

i was slack-jawed when she said she hasn’t read either of the books. when i was a kid, it was required reading, like the lord of the rings. sure lewis carroll’s wonderland is nothing like an epic, but it was an intelligent book. impressively made and it was tim burton, way before tim burton.

i guess that’s what’s missing in today’s generation (wow, writing that suddenly made me feel old), reading is not part of growing up anymore. kids today would rather watch adaptations than read the books. of course, much of the book’s essence is lost when it’s translated to film.  and i doubt kids today have ever of cliffnotes.

kids who are not reading are missing a lot of things. for one, they are not able to use their imagination, there’s only so much spongebob can do. and that’s sad, reading books opens doors to a lot of things. and i am truly thankful for my parents who made me pick out books for me to read during summer.

when i was a kid, reading books, especially those without pictures allowed me to paint all the scenarios in my head and put me in the director’s chair. it was fun. and as i grew older, and my taste in literature became varied, i was able to put faces into characters, render them with voice, and even ‘experience’ the things i’m reading.

and although i hardly have the time to read, there’s nothing more that i want to do than just curl up in bed with a very good book. i would gladly go down that rabbit hole once again.

i am manila

I am Manila

I am the city who’s there, but not quite. I am the city struggling to prove to the world that it’s unlike any other.

I am not as fashionable as New York or Paris but I have style.

I am not as hip and trendy as Tokyo but I am an innovator in my own way.

I may not be as free-spirited like Ibiza but I know how to have a good time.

Like many other cities, I have had my share of good and bad times and these experiences have made me the city that I am today.

I am not famous, and I am not the most beautiful city but for some reason, my exotic charms have lured people from all over the world.

They have tried to make me their own and what was left is a city devoid of identity.
I pass myself off as American, sometimes Spanish and even there are times that I think myself as Chinese. But underneath all these borrowed identities is a unique persona, my persona.

I have struggled to break free from the trappings of foreign influences, but was eventually lost because if I take them all off, I am left with nothing.

Some may think that I am a great imitator, but they got it wrong, I am a city of chameleons. My ever changing moods and looks is my identity. These make me whole.

I will never apologize for my American accent, my passion for food and romance and my Chinese looks, because these are the sum of me. I am Manila; I am the great melting pot.

My streets and churches speak European. My mass transport is, of course American. But my heart is definitely Filipino.

I am Manila, proud to be a child of the world.

requiem for a wilted rose

“rose petals fall to the ground

evening follows and

i remember you again”

-cofiboi

thanks for the call. it was kind of weird but talking to you made me feel better. for strangers who haven’t even met, our conversation was like a conversation between long-lost friends. i learned a lot and i hope i didn’t bore you.

when i put the phone down, i realized that we were talking for more than four hours. something i haven’t done since high school. but it was a very grown up conversation. and i like that. it’s nice to talk to someone who’s smart and open-minded. you had my attention.

and although you were obnoxious for the most part, i found it hard to hang-up. how i wished that we talked some more.

now comes the part where i say things that i’m hoping i won’t regret.

i already said thanks. what i want you to know now is that i miss you. i miss your voice, your snide comments and all the other things that you said. i wish i recorded our conversation because i want to hear your voice over and over again. you made me feel important. and you listened.

and did i say i miss you? oh, i already did.

it’s funny because i have always said to myself that talking to someone face to face is the only way to know if the conversation is genuine. but ours was one of the most genuine conversations that i’ve had. and that’s rare.

now i’m hoping that you’d call me again. sing to me those britney lines and play 20 questions again. it was so surreal yet so real at the same time.

i don’t know how many conversations you’ve had that are like ours but i never shared that much to a stranger, especially over the phone.

i am keeping my hopes up. i’m praying that one of these days you’d be bored and you’d ask me if i’m busy (of course i’d be available for you) and call.

i miss you, stranger.

monsters, inc.- we scare because we care

i don’t remember how we ended talking about monsters but my friends and i agreed that if you stay there long enough, you’d grow claws and fangs.

it must be in the water.

where is this monster factory you might ask? well, i am not at liberty to tell you, but here’s what i can do for you, i will tell you why this ghastly transformation takes place.

i remember being idealistic once. you know, fresh out of college, i felt ready for the big, wide world. well, in a way i was. but the nobody can really prepare you for all the crazy stuff the big, wide world throws at you.

i was in my early twenties when i thought i’d join the masses in the never-ending grind in what we fondly call, work. the moment you step into one of those mechanical contraptions known as the elevator, and breathe in their brand of oxygen, thats when the mutation begins.

of course it would be subtle. and like all mutations, the changes start with your dna. like many, i started out as a humble peon. a faceless soldier, toiling in the sun. pushing rocks up the cliff and making sure the battlements would hold. i felt noble and important. then i started to notice that my skin has acquired a scale-like quality that manifests when i feel threatened. of course, i brushed it off. i do not want to be seen as a freak. soon, other changes happened. my nails started to harden and i grew fangs!

i consulted a good friend of course, one who wold never share my dirty little secret to the rest of the world. i was surprised to find out that she too was going through the changes i was. and when i found out that my vision has been enhanced as well, i started to see the trenches in a different light. the generals and other whip-wielders were transformed into beasts only read in books. any dragon slayer would have a lion’s share of the bounty if there was one on our heads.

but to tell you the truth, my transformation is anything but welcome. i still want to be ‘normal.’ but apparently, being ‘normal’ here means you have to grow claws and fangs. these are not for show, these hideous appendages are your defense against the back-stabbing arrows and the venomous poison that will be spewed on you. and you would only change when you are threatened, much like a hedgehog.

so there, the secret’s out. the only reason i am alive is because i have mutated. that’s the only way to survive in this dig eat dog world. we have now officially become, monsters inc. we scare, because we care.

youtube famous!

i am a youtube troll. i go to the site to look for something and i end up watching videos that are remotely related to my search. i have a penchant of digressing, and it shows in the hours i spent on youtube. although it’s not as addicting as facebook, youtube still manages to lure me in.

in all of my hours spent watching viral videos and vlogs (video blogs), i realized that fame comes easy these days. you don’t even have to audition and get trashed by judges like simon. all you have to do is grab a handy-dandy cam, record and upload. and if you’re lucky, ellen or oprah might happen to see your grainy work and invite you and boom! stardom!

i’m not saying that talents who get ‘discovered’ through youtube are no less talented than the stars who went through the old school way- you know, going through auditions and casting calls and all the leg-work.

technology it seems, cut the legwork in half. and that’s a good thing. youtube has made it possible for people from a country like ours to have a more level playing field, and that’s huge.

a good case in point would be charice pempengco. this talent show runner-up was seen on youtube and is well on her way to stardom. she wasn’t even known here in the philippines but now ellen and oprah wants her to be on their shows. and now everyone is all praises for her. and i’m happy for her, she’s going to give other singers out there some healthy competition.

hot on her toes, well i should say, following lukewarmly are two filipina singers who started recorded themselves inside their bathroom singing rnb covers. they call themselves rin on the rox and they’re slowly making a name for themselves. they already appeared on ellen, and that’s a big start for these chinese restaurant waitresses.

then it’s not just the singers. there’s christine gambito, also known as ‘happy slip.’ this comedian gained fame in youtube by posting vignettes of life as an asian-american. she’s one of the biggest stars of youtube, and her channel is one of the most subscribed.

that’s what led me to the conclusion that all it takes to become famous is a camera, some video editing know-how, an internet connection and youtube!

it’s not all singing and comedy on youtube. the site has also become an avenue for bloggers who, instead of writing their thoughts, record them. these video bloggers, or vloggers, talk about almost anything and they’re very prolific. and what i find nifty about the site is that aside from text comments, other users can also post video responses, making the exchange of ideas more interactive. i’ve even seen a post where users who have never met personally, created a video supporting gay rights.

so, will youtube be the end of talent scouts, auditions, go-sees and casting calls? i highly doubt that. but at least it gives us other avenues to become famous, youtube famous that is. 🙂