And to end my year with this last post, let me to talk about my Bianang2, Mary Ann Uy.
I really don’t know how she became close to me. She was at the opposite end of the human spectrum—she’s tall, fair, and pretty, she’s rich and well-mannered, she was a Music major, and most of all, she’s Chinese (75% daw!). How could someone like me, the total opposite of her persona, be her closest friend in UP Concer Chorus?
Although she was all that, she was also totally down-to-earth and empathetic, smart and funny, loving and warm. And she’s all that I dreamed of in a friend.
So why did we call ourselves the Bianangs? Nakupo, hindi kami mga lesbiyana in real life. It just so happened that at one stop in Norway, we were so excited to be roommates that all we wanted to do was gossip. When it was time for us to bathe, we decided to do it together in the bath tub!!! Hahahaha!!! And that started the Legend of the Bianangs, and a series of taking baths/showers together.
Inhibitions and secrets were unheard of between us after that. We told each other everything, and I mean everything—skeletons in our pasts, present heartbeats, future dreams. We needed each other amidst the chaotic eight months of touring the world. She became my shopping buddy, my fashion collaborator, my music inspiration, my shoulder to cry on.
Happy birthday, Byanang2, Chidang, Meh Ann. I’m dying to see you again!
Sorry, but I am going to sign off until next year. Parang antagal ha. Anu ba, that’s just in 2 days!
Anyway, it has been a tradition of the Fam to escape from fire crackers and all the hoopla every New Year’s Eve by checking in at a hotel. That way, we can still see the colorful company-sponsored-fireworks without damaging our lungs and ears, not to mention our pockets (Why, firecrackers are expensive ha!). We fully open the hotel room’s curtains to view the bing bang, but all in mute. Then we (WE!) jump and hug and kiss one another at the strike of 12 midnight. And after five minutes, we go back to the fluffy beds.
Is it New Year's yet?
Let me see, when did we start running away from the noisemakers? When we were living in Davao City, the mayor there banned the use of firecrackers, especially on New Year's Eve. Sure, people made some noise, but by honking their cars and hitting their pots and pans with a metal ladle. Yes, it sounds lame, but the next day, Davao City emerges as the winner, because it had zero firecracker-related incident report. In Davao, if your hand got busted because you were unlucky enough to light up an illegal ‘bawang’, you’d better not go to the hospital. Else, you suffer the wrath of the mayor, which is far more deafening than a lowly Five Star. You choose.
Aah..peace and quiet!
We started checking in at hotels on New Year’s in 2000. Remember the dreaded Millemium Bug, wherein doomsayers predicted that all computer-controlled electronics and power plants would go haywire because the computer only recognized until 1999? They said chaos would result, and the end of the world would ensue. We didn’t believe it, of course, but we checked in at Marco Polo just the same. If anything happened, at least we were all together, right?
As you know, nothing close to a catastrophe happened to the world. But the Family kind of got the hang of celebrating New Year together in one room. So that’s when this tradition really began.
Anyway, so we are off to Cebu today. Signing off from the Year 2011. Welcoming the Year 2012. With the whole Fam at Cebu Park Lane.
You can call me a safe eater. My taste buds are not as adventurous, although I’d like to think I try. I like durian, but I don’t like guyabano. I like penoy, but not balut. I like kinilaw and sushi, but not kalderetang kambing, and definitely not azusena (or to my Korean students, boshintang).
And I’m not into spicy food either. So everytime I am invited to eat at a Korean restaurant (which is inevitable since I’m working at a Korean-owned school, duh!), I turn into my safe mode and just order kimbab, the Korean version of the Japanese maki.
I’ve tried their other dishes though, and some food are similar to what we Pinoys eat, like their curry and an afritada-like stew, and bulgogi (Korean barbecue). But I find the spicy ones least suitable to my taste, since it feels like the chili powder overpowers the unami flavor of the food (Unami can be interpreted as malinamnam in Pinoy lingo.)
Anyway, we had our annual Christmas party for the teachers last night, and our boss decided to hold it at a Korean restaurant this year, a samgyupsal party. He said that the dishes will not be as spicy. So here are some pictures of what we ate:
Samgyupsal (or bacon to me!)
Excuse me for being ignorant of the names of all the dishes. But may I say that I have never eaten so much bacon in my life! Ha ha!
Koreans are said to have the least obesity rate in the world (after Japan) because of the predominance of vegetables in their diet. So for those of you who have not tried Korean dishes, and you have the stomach for spicy food, then you should try it.
In all my seventeen years of marriage, it has never occurred to me that the Hubby would cheat. That’s how I fully trust him.
You see, I’m not at all the jealous-type. I don’t snoop around his things or computer or cell phone. I don’t sniff his clothes in the laundry. I don’t know what (or how much!) the contents of his wallet and ATM are. No, it’s not apathy. It’s just that I know he fears God and he treasures our marriage so much. Oh, and he is scared of his kids more than anything else, especially of the Daughter.
Oh yes, sometimes we joke around a bit on topics like this. Like what if he had an affair, or if he was seen by any of us ‘meeting’ someone. He answers his own question by saying that he knows his kids would be devastated and disillusioned, and he is most afraid of that. Ha! He doesn’t even ask how his poor wife would feel. Maybe he doesn’t want to hear that I'd jokingly retort I’d do an eye for an eye? Or would I?
For others, it’s easier to forgive if there is still love and affection in marriage. But if the husband and wife are already strangers living in one roof, then a situation like this turns into a seemingly valid alibi to cut the knot that binds them.
Rabbi Shmuley, Oprah’s marriage guru, has advice for couples who have bumped into the rock of infidelity:
1. You can forgive a spouse for an act of infidelity, he says, but only if your spouse promises to work on it. "Your spouse needs to show that they're serious about repentance, commitment to you and not doing it again," Rabbi Shmuley says. Counseling is also often needed to repair the relationship, he says.
2. Beware of a repeat offender. "If the spouse slips up more than once after their promise to change, your partner is not serious about changing," Rabbi Shmuley says.
3. Women often feel tempted to know details about the other woman, but don't compare yourself to her, Rabbi Shmuley says. "The time will come when your husband can talk about it if it's still bothering you," he says. "But don't have your husband relive it when he's trying to heal."
4. Forgive only if your spouse agrees to sever all communication with that person, he says. If it's a co-worker, he says the cheating spouse must leave that job.
I really don’t know how I would react to this issue. Would I forgive him, or would I totally give up on him? If I forgave him, would I be able to forget? And if I were able to forget, would my love be also wiped out?
Aargh, that’s why I don’t want to think about it. It always gives me a headache.
The Story: A couple is devastated by an act of infidelity of the wife, which ended up in a divorce. The husband, wanting to move on and regain his crushed manhood, hangs out at a singles bar. He is ‘trained’ by a gigolo expert he met at the bar on how to smoothly pick up girls. But the consequences of their actions will be dramatic in the end.
My Reaction:
What is it with Steve Carell that you end up loving his character? He is funny but one can empathize with him as well. When his wife (Julianne Moore) asked for a divorce, you can feel how how his world came crumbling down. It is also very funny how he painstakingly learned how to get back in the singles crowd, with a big help from a professional bachelor (Ryan Gosling). But after all these misadventures, he still knows that his happiness lies with his family at home.
Trivia:
'Emma Stone' is a mere three days older than Analeigh Tipton. However, her character Hannah (approx. 26-27 years) is almost ten years older than Tipton's Jessica (17 years).
When Jonah Bobo's character, Robbie, is deleting Jessica's number from his cellphone you can read that another contact in his phone is 'Joey K'. Joey King is the name of the actress playing Molly, his sister on screen.
The cocktail that Jacob drinks and makes throughout the movie is an "Old Fashioned," considered by some historians to be the first American cocktail. The recipe usually included sugar and bitters muddled together, club soda and ice, rye whisky, and a large slice of orange peel.
Robbie's class is studying the Scarlet Letter. This novel is the basis for Emma Stone's previous movie Easy A.
They were actually giving a free iPad on set to whoever came up with a title for the film.
The golden round shaped symbol that Kate (Marisa Tomei) is wearing in the scene when Cal (Steve Carell) hits on her actually refers to a married women in the Indian tradition, although she is single here.
I really don’t know how she became close to me. She was at the opposite end of the human spectrum—she’s tall, fair, and pretty, she’s rich and well-mannered, she was a Music major, and most of all, she’s Chinese (75% daw!). How could someone like me, the total opposite of her persona, be her closest friend in UP Concer Chorus?
