The vacation was planned; but at the last minute, there had
to be a major change. We were supposed to go to a beach in Zambales, but thanks
to the unpredictability of Philippine weather, we found ourselves on a jeepney
to a nearby vacation spot.
Our choice was Hidden Sanctuary. It is a relatively new
resort situated in Prenza, Marilao. It is a huge development that features a
hotel and two wave pools. Wanting to actually stay for the night in comfort, we
ended up booking a family room for all six of us. Now that I think about it,
there really was no regret on this. It was actually a fun experience!
Contrary to what others believe, I am not exactly a friendly person. Due to the painful things that happened to me in the past, my safety is consistently turned on and I tend to close my world from others. I learned the hard way not to easily trust. I do not easily get comfortable. I believe that I do not need many friends.
Just a few, real ones, is enough.
Last week, I have spent time with some of these few friends. One came home from Abu Dhabi so we had a little get together. It was fun as stories kept pouring in. We went to a short getaway - something which we haven't done in like eight years - and we had a good time catching up.
As I write this, I keep on thinking about how amazing it is that even though a lot of things had changed, some things remain the same. It's amazing how we still feel like how we were in high school - carefree and young.
To be honest, it feels good to have people around you to remind you of who you were years back. Well, I meant the good side. Even though high school wasn't exactly the best for me, these few friends had made it all worth it.
Back then, I have always thought of relinquishing all connections from the era of my life. But right now, I feel grateful that I didn't. I feel thankful that although I've kept lots of people from there out of my life, I allowed these few to enter the door and fortunately, they chose to stay.
I am the type of person whose span of attention can rival that
of a 5-year-old kid. I don’t have the patience to stick to something in
particular when it becomes boring to my taste. That attitude applies especially
when I’m watching Korean dramas. There are lots of shows I didn’t finish simply
because I find it predictable or eventually disinteresting. Plus, I am quite
lazy in waiting for the episodes to be subbed.
With those said, it’s now plain easy to understand why I
consider I Hear Your Voice as one of the best dramas there is.
First and foremost, it was never in my plans to watch the
drama, if not for Manager Hyung. I didn’t watch My Daughter Seyoung even though
Jungshin was there simply because it seemed boring to me (so I had no idea how
Lee Boyoung is as an actress). That was the same thing I initially felt towards
this drama, but boy, was I so grateful that I didn’t give in.
So the story began 11 years ago when Park Sooha’s father was
killed by Min Joon Gook. Jang Hyeseong – who was having her own taste of
injustice then – happened to witness the scene as she was fighting with Seo
Doyeon. After having her self-worth challenged by her archenemy, Hyeseong found
herself standing as a witness against Min Joonguk, who vowed to take revenge
once he had served his sentence in prison.
And then the story escalates. And in summary, I got hooked.
RELEASED AT 12MN KST AND IT'S ONLY NOW THAT IT'S FINALLY SINKING IN ON ME.
EXO'S BACK AND THEY'RE GROWLING LIKE FUCK.
HATERS BURN.
I didn't even know it's set to be released today. I was too busy to notice. As I don't have plans to watch the KPOP Republic since I don't have money, I decided to stay away for a while. But one music video and I'm back on my knees.
Forget the fact that all of them are fucking sizzling in those uniforms. Leave behind the truth that they were both hot and cool in this video. Set aside the reality that this is yet the sexiest video and song from EXO. We're gonna focus on choreography for the review, baby.
Before the comeback, I've come across several tweets and issues bashing the group. I don't know how they arrived at such ridiculous conclusion but apparently, they were so convinced that EXO is nothing more than a visual group. They are so into convincing others too that these 12 boys are 'talentless' - which I so beg to disagree.
To be fucking honest, I pity them for being blinded. And I think this song's choreography's gonna be the best way to prove them wrong.
It has always amused me how EXO makes it seem like their steps are as easy as the gwiyomi shit but the dance routines for this song just brought such amazement into a higher level. The footwork isn't as complicated as the MAMA era and the moves aren't as strong as those in WOLF, but GROWL obviously requires stronger abdomen and stronger pair of thighs.
There are three parts in the dance routine which has completely taken me in awe: 1) the way they rolled and switch their legs on the chorus part and then quickly got up to move; 2) THE WHOLE CHOREO IN THE RAP PARTS especially the body turn-drop and the Only One step; and 3) everything else actually.
Basically, the choreography requires quick movements which those who aren't trained enough won't be able to comply well. Plus, the locks and leveling aren't easy. But look, the supposedly 'talentless' EXO boys pulled it so fine... if it's not even perfect.
And I just have to point out that it's fun to see that the caps get incorporated in the routine. DAEBAK.
At this point, let me not just congratulate the boys. Let me mention the choreographers too. I think Gregory Hwang's the main brain here as I often associate sexy body locks like this with him. He's really a treasure, and I mean it.
Aside from the choreography though, what freaking makes this music video a lot more special is the fact that you cannot film this by cuts. Unless you want the video editor to curse you to death. Therefore, there is no room for mistakes when they filmed this. Every flaw must have resulted to going back to the first step. Tiring, it must have been.
But it took them 13 hours to film how many videos? Add to that the time for make up, set preparation, and breaktimes. Therefore, we can assume that filming the video itself didn't take so much time. Meaning, they must have really gone through it professionally and exceptionally.
I have never really gotten the chance to prove myself that I've turned graceful enough this July although I'm pretty contented with how better I have become. This is some real talk, okay. It's pretty nice how I have managed to control all emotions and stayed focus and feminine (for the lack of better word) this month.
But I think it's not enough.
That is why I have decided to move on to Grace 3.0 for August. It sounds ridiculous but I'm planning to open up my world again to people so here goes real application of this virtue. I have never really paid great attention to this month since before but let me try to somehow make it special.
I have learned that one secret to being happy is maintaining gracefulness. It gives me the kind of impression on myself that things are going fine and I'm not being judged because for once, I am acting appropriately. Although I slip sometimes, I compensate it by acting more like a beautiful swan than a lost, ugly duckling.
Others may not agree on this simply because they don't want to; but who cares?
Anyway... yeah, August's starting. Can't believe we have 5 months left before 2013 ends. How fast time flies, right?
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to earn more.
My regular job is paying me good but to keep up with life’s constant and
incessant changes, I need to find more income. If we’re to go back to several
years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that I’ll be this addicted with money. Now,
I am convinced that I need it. It’s my top priority.
Somehow, such admission makes me feel ridiculous. All this
time, I’ve been telling people that happiness does not lie in money alone. I’ve
always believed that the best things in life are free. But as I assume
responsibility over my family, I end up realizing that money is necessary. But here’s
the catch: it’s not actually money that
we like. It’s the sense of security that money brings which we’re after.
We use money to get ourselves our basic needs – shelter,
food, and clothing. We use it to pay our bills which we use to get on with our
daily lives like water, electricity, internet, and whatnots. We use money to
pay for our medical expenses. We use money to entertain ourselves. We use money
to exist well in the world. And without money, where would we think we’ll be?
Money provides us an assurance that whatever happens, we
will be fine. If we have money for everything, we are freed from stress and
worries. Believe me. It’s never easy to worry about where to get the money to
pay for everything, especially medical expenses. I’ve been there. I’ve done
that. And I never want to go back there again.
True, money can be an instrument of evil as it provokes
immense temptation. But is there anything in this world which cannot turn bad
if abused? Money becomes evil when the person uses it for evil things. It
enslaves people who willingly worship it. There’s nothing wrong with money as
long as it is spent for the betterment of life. If it’s not, that’s where the
problem arises.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to have so much money as
long as we know we deserve it, and as long as we work hard for it. But we must
always remember that we have the responsibility to use it well. We shouldn’t
worship it. Let it worship us. We have to manage it wisely so it can do good things
in our lives.
As I end, I remember a quote I got from KBS’ The Human
Condition. It said "money can provide the means for happiness; but It can never
be happiness itself.” True enough, right?
For so long, I have led my life to thinking that as long as others are happy with my decisions, it wouldn't matter if I'm not. That's a principle I have blindly followed for so long because I have been too obsessed about pleasing others, believing that that would make me happy. Little did I know that while I try so hard to achieve this 'happiness', I am actually burying myself in a slum of frustrations and despair.
I honestly didn't know how it happened; but one day, I just noticed that while others are growing and succeeding, I have remained stagnant. It suddenly occurred to me how sad my life has always been. That's when I finally realized that it's time to quit all these bullshits. I do not need to put other people first. Myself should always be the number one priority.
When that mindset sank in, I felt lighter and more free. The next thing I knew, I'm glowing.
Due to our addiction for social acceptance, most of us become blinded with what really matters. In the end, we forsake ourselves and completely put our joy in the wrong places - thinking that we'll eventually be happy with it. But what we fail to realize is that we don't just become happy when we say we're happy. It only becomes genuine when we don't feel any regrets or frustrations over how our lives are running.
Saying 'yes' to others when we actually mean 'no' is one form of denying ourselves of true happiness. It doesn't make us feel good when we lie to ourselves. It makes us feel genuinely incomplete. So why do it? There's always a compromise. Why not practice it?
I am not saying that we should not work on pleasing others. Of course, we should; but that should just come secondary. Remember, we cannot give something we don't have. If we do not prioritize our happiness, how sure are we that others will feel sincerity over what we're doing for them to be happy?
Life is too short. The best thing to do now is to make the most out of it. So we all should live it wisely and stop taking ourselves for granted.
I love foreign languages and I
admit that I am utterly fascinated with the writing systems of Korea, Japan and
China. Those strokes and shapes are really interesting to look at and appealing
to decipher. It has always been my dream to be multi-lingual; so ever since
high school, I have been studying Hangug-o on my own.
For the past years that I’ve been
trying to master the language, it constantly occurs to me why the Philippines
didn’t stick using the Baybayin system, more commonly known as alibata. It’s a
writing system used by the early Filipinos way before the Spanish colonizers arrive
and proclaim that we are illiterate. One of them admitted that. According to a
1567 (?) account of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Visayans had been usingletters and characters similar to those of Malay. Thus, he presumed that our
ancestors have learned from our neighbors already, and are thus literate.
We used to have our own language,
but something else was pressed onto us – and we succumbed. Now, we use the
alphabets and a large portion of our vocabulary consists of borrowed words from
the Spanish language.
