Lahi
Madalas, naitatanong ko sa aking sarili kung ano nga ba ako? Sure, alam ko tao ako, pero ang ibig kong sabihin, ano nga ba ang totoong lahi ko beneath my being a Filipina?
Eto kasi yan e… Si Lolo Simeon na ama ni Dad ay isang Bicolano na may lahing Espanyol. Si Lola Solemnidad naman ay isang Kapampangan na may lahi ding Espanyol. So, that makes my father Spanish, Bicolano and Kapampangan.
Ang Lolo ko naman sa aking ina ay isang Italyano at si Lola naman ay isang Waray. So ang aking ina ay isang half-Italian, half-Waray. Now, discounting the foreign blood running through my family tree, that would make me a Filipino of Bicolano, Kapampangan and Waray descent. Okay na sana e, hindi na masyadong nakakalito. Hanggang sa makilala ko ang kabiyak ng aking puso na isang Pangasinense. Only a year within our union, naging fluent na din ako sa salitang Pangasinense (FYI – it is absolutely rude and discriminating to call them or their language “Pangalatok”, it is an insult to them.). There are times I get lost in my own ability to speak a multitude of Filipino languages, aside from my fluency in the English vernacular which I often use since I work as a virtual assistant to a client based in the United States. Madalas, I find myself stopping in mid-sentence kasi nare-realize ko na napaghahalo ko na pala ang mga salita and the people that I talk to are trying so hard to put the words together to understand me. Kagaya noong minsan sa isang party sa amin sa Pampanga, kausap ko ang aking mga pinsan na matagal-tagal ko na din hindi nakita. Nagkakatuwaan kami ng bigla na lamang napansin ko na nakatitig na sila sa akin at almost alll of them had their lower jaws hanging open. I realized I was blabbering in excitement and saying something like : “Nuko, ne, ewari kanita mumunta tamu pa El Tierro mag-ghost hunting tamu nen kiyen say kwan nen Lolo Sim, patche arakap da kayu lawen yu man, idatuk da kayu keng sako!” (translation : Naku hindi ba, noon nagpupunta pa tayo sa El Tierro para mag-ghost hunting tapos sabi ni Lolo Sim, kapag nahuli ko kayo, makikita nyo, ilalagay ko kayo sa sako!).All of it was in Kapampangan, except for the words in bold letters which was in Pangasinense. Apparently, I accidentaly injected a different language into my sentence causing a bit of confusion to my audience. It was really embarrassing, but it is even more embarrassing because this didn’t happen only once, it happens all the time!
Emo: Maskman
Of course, I remember being a child. And those childhood memories includes some favorite TV shows that I have watch. One of which is Mask Man.
I was browsing YouTube for some funny videos to add a part 3 of my Amazing Videos collection (1) (2), when I accidentally bump upon this Mask Man’s opening and ending videos. Incidentally, there are rumors that ABS-CBN will revive/remake these famed super sentai.
Why you should not publish a lot of entries in a short amount of time
There are times where you feel your creative juices are flowing and you are filled with ideas. Each of these ideas can be converted into blog entries! Due to this, you now have lots of potential blog entries to share to your readers. You plan to write them all down and publish them on the same day. I suggest you refrain from doing this. Do not be a millionaire in one day and risk being poor the next day.
I have three reasons why you should not do this.
Prudence, M.D.: The Medical and Health Blog
Again, I’ve decided to put up a separate blog for all my medical and health-related entries. I just notice that it can rather confuse readers as to the tone of my blog writing. So, since I started Prudence and Madness as a personal blog, I’ll retain it as a personal blog. For that health and medical aspect of my writing, these will have to be shunted to a separate blog so that readers who are more apt to read my medical opinions, they can just go to that health and medical blog and be spared of my personal rants. 
And, no, this isn’t what my previous post is about. Making a medical and health blog isn’t feisty. 
Here’s today’s entry in my new medical and health blog:
by Tess Termulo, M.D.
In as much that we welcome with open arms the palpable (and very wet) onslaught of the rainy season, which could be a solution to our present problem of water shortage, we should be wary that this, also, signals the beginning of the flood season. And for the medical clerks and interns in different institutions of healthcare, this means, not only a more difficult and dangerous trek going to duties, but also, more patients contracting leptospirosis that will be filling up the wards (from the medical school I came from, this case is rather common during the rainy days and is a favorite topic for edema rounds, admission conference, and even morbidity/mortality conferences).
For ordinary, non-medical people though, what should the word “leptospirosis” make them think? Two words: Avoid floods. To have further understanding why we should avoid getting caught in flood waters, let’s look further into the details of the disease.
My Elevator Car is Falling! HELP!
I had been meaning to do a search on “if I could will myself to jump while inside a free falling elevator just before it crashes to the ground, what will happen? Will I survive?” Was the thought a premonition? It’s irrelevant now. The fact that I didn’t despite meaning to made me want to strangle myself! Why didn’t I?! WHY?!
I was on my way down the office for a smoke. That’s about 25 storeys above the ground plus 3 more basement parking levels. Two other passengers were with me inside the elevator car. Two middle-aged women.
Then it happened.
Random Hot Men: National Underwear Day
I rarely get to read Queerty and whenever I do, I get to see the good ones!
August 7 was National Underwear Day, and all the prominent underwear brands got together for one major fashion show at the Times Square.
More on the skivvies after the jump.
Commercial Break: God, Save the Baby
A little trivia: there are four babies born in the Philippines every minute.
This commercial shows a woman in labor and her newly-born baby doesn’t cry, a sign that the child could be still-born.
Could this doctor be able to save the baby from imminent child mortality?
Answers after the jump…
Promise.
Complain, complain… How about compete?
Globe Telecom placed pages of ads at the Philippine Star a few days ago. The pages on which they were printed were thicker than the usual newsprint and in full color. The theme of the ads was because of Globe, “abot mo ang mundo.” It’s true that Globe Telecom have helped millions of Filipinos to reach each other whether you are in this country of in foreign lands.
What I find sad about Globe is it’s insecurities when compared with other networks, particularly Smart. I’ve been a subscriber of Globe for several years now and was glad of services. But when it comes to innovations and new services, it lags behind Smart. What I don’t like about them is that instead of improving and finding ways to compete with Smart in terms of product offerings, they would be spending money to file complaints against Smart with the NTC.
They always raise the issues of unfair trade practices and violation of NTC rules. And that if they would follow Smart, their services would be negatively affected.
I feel that this pure insecurity. I heard from a friend that our country has one of the highest rates in terms of communications. If these telcos would stop being greedy, then I’m sure they could bring down the cost of telecommunication in our country. Imagine, Sun Cellular, could offer unlimited calls. The only problem is that they still have not perfected their unlimited program (connection problems, delays, etc.), perhaps due to lack of capital to build up infrastructures. But they are still here, aren’t they?
I’ve also read about the cheap cost of using VOIP. Perhaps these telcos should start using the power of VOIP to be able to offer cheaper calls and sms services. But I guess, greed drives them all to prevent this from happening.
I’m sharing this opinion because I’m frustrated every time Globe file a suit against Smart for better and cheaper products. Why can’t they compete better?
[DYuTYub #21] Language Barrier
Tagalog and Bisaya are the top two languages in the Philippines. We hear the opinions of Cebuanos toward the language Tagalog and the people.
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