EDSA 25

What is the true spirit of EDSA?

I wasn’t there at that time to begin with, I just remembered how my mom and my grandmother told me how People Power was like during that time. Indeed, it was the most peaceful revolution the world has ever seen. Up until now, people around the world were inspired to unite and do something for their country especially if their country is at stake.

Thanks to the internet and some videos that I have watched in you tube together with the pictures and newspapers that recounts what really happened that monumental day, I can imagine how amazing the power of unity, prayers and hope can do.

The headline that says, “It’s all over” meaning, Corazon Aquino was then declared as the new president and former president Ferdinand Marcos was ousted, caused the whole nation to celebrate. Frankly, I was a little biased, although of course I can understand why people felt the way they do before, but as my mom and my grandmother recounted, life were easier, more productive, even to the extent of glorious during the Marcos era. The Marcos clan was so popular since they were like the Kings and Queens of Scotland.

Imelda Marcos, the wife of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has landed on Newsweek’s list of “greediest people of all time.” According to the newsmagazine, Marcos “saw it as her duty to provide ‘some kind of light, a star’ for the impoverished Filipino people over whom her husband presided. So she took $5-million shopping sprees to New York and Rome, reportedly owned the world’s largest collections of gems and 3,000 pairs of shoes.” But you know what, I can categorize Marcos as the Robinhood of our country, granted he “stealed”, but our country was also benefiting from it, our economy was,’t that bad during those times.

And what about the Marcos and Mubarak  comparison? I find it insulting. Tunisia’s Ben Ali, Egypt’s Mubarak and Libya’s Gaddafi are tyrants -- they could easily be compared to Marcos.  I don’t think Marcos is any way worth comparing to them. Yes, they both cling to power for how many years, but they are different people.

They say, after Marcos flee, it marked the end of dictatorship and and the birth of new hope and freedom for the Filipinos, is it really? or it just marked the start of greediness of other people to take over the weak? the people who are hoping for change? the naive way of thinking that there will be a change if we can just trust…but can we trust them?

FEBRUARY 25, 2011 Marks the 25th anniversary of Edsa Revolution, but honestly, where are we now? what happened to our country ever since the revolt happened back then?

25 years and 5 presidents later..are we really considered free? Idealistically speaking? are we learning and going to the right direction towards being a great nation?

The fact that second revolution happened when we ousted former president Joseph Estrada only proves that we are still back in our good old days, greediness is still out there..or maybe, it didn’t leave after all.

It may sound pessimistic but after how many years, the story never changed..it is still the same. The events occur and only the characters change…are we getting used to this?

I don’t want to lose hope..I still want to believe that our race is worth dying for….

I really wish the true spirit of EDSA will not only be alive today but everyday..

The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

I have watched the movie before I get to read the book and thanks to my friend who lend me I guess I’m really a devoted fan of Nicholas Sparks and what’s with him making me cry all  the time with the stories that he writes. I wanted to say so much about this book . . . but I guess it really doesn’t need that much said about it. It is quite simple really.

Do you believe in love?

Do you believe there can be a lasting, eternal love for one other person here on earth?
Nonbelievers.

It’s the most beautiful description of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl, then loses her again. It’s how every person wants to be loved one day.

The Notebook opens in a rest home. An elderly resident is telling us his story. He spends his days visiting a woman that often does not remember him. Each morning, he enters her room with a notebook containing memories of his life and love. He hopes that sharing these past events will jog her memory, but it is not to be. Yet, he tries each day and does not give up.

The second scene of the book takes place in October of 1946. Noah Calhoun has returned from the war and purchased his dream house in New Bern. He came into a windfall, bought the 1772 house, and restored it in an attempt to forget his past. We find out that his past includes a long lost love. This lady was his first and only love and she went away when they were teenagers. He has never forgotten her.

The Notebook then flashes back to Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson meeting and falling in love in the summer of 1935. Fifteen year-old Allie is visiting North Carolina. She is introduced to seventeen year-old Noah and likes him immediately. They spend the summer together sharing everything including their first sexual experiences. By the end of the season, it is clear that these two are in love and meant for each other.

However, Allie returns home and loses touch with Noah. Her parents have implied that Noah is not right for their daughter because he is of a different class. Noah writes to Allie often, but his letters go unanswered. He moves on with his life as best he can by enlisting in the service and going to war.

Let’s fast forward now to 1946. Noah is living in and restoring this big house all alone. Allie is 29 and engaged to a successful lawyer. She reads an article about Noah in the paper and decides that she must see him one last time. She tells her family that she is taking a trip to shop for antiques and heads to New Bern.

Once she meets Noah face to face again, it is clear that the passion they shared so long ago is still there. They spend two wonderful evenings together sharing magical experiences. However, Allie must soon return to her other life and the man she is about to marry. Will Allie return home to a safe, comfortable life? Will she leave Noah a second time? Or will she stay in New Bern, where her heart belongs?

The last quarter of the book involves an elderly couple and their undying love. It is the couple in the rest home to which I was referring earlier. The woman has Alzheimer’s disease and often forgets the life she shared with this other man. He doesn’t give up hope and tries to give her back her memory each day. The doctors and nurses are stunned and touched. This man’s undying faith sometimes fools the disease, and his love gets her memory back once in a while. Those moments they share are priceless and the author describes them well.

Are these two people Noah and Allie or another couple? Did Allie leave? Did she find her way back? I’ll never tell.

This book is a real tearjerker and I can’t really describe how wonderful it was written. How strong is their love that can survive one of them not having any memory of the other? Every day he goes to see his wife and read to her hoping that she will recall the words. Never does he say who he is. He wants her to remember on her own, and hear those precious words that he misses so much. “I Love You”. He never pushes too hard. Their love is one to be admired, even though it is fictional. One could only hope to live as long as these two, and have the passion and love that they felt from the beginning. I was praying through the whole book that she would remember..Although, at the first part  I have to confess, I was kind of annoyed with Allie. Why did she wait so long to find Noah? She was just about to get married before she figured out that she needed to see him again. Now, I suppose her place in post-war high-class society had something to do with it. However, in the rest of the book, she seems like a strong woman who says her piece. All of a sudden, when it comes to Noah, she obeys her parents? Please.

I believe it is probably my favorite book and it is truly the most loving of all love stories. If you’ve seen the movie, it is good, but is bereft of the beauty of the words and the full experience of the story.

If The Notebook sounds appealing to you, I also recommend A Walk to Remember also by Nicholas Sparks. It, too, is a love story that I happened to like.

Get it, read it, love it.

-xxx-

"What makes ME super excited about the weekends?"

I always look forward on weekends, it's not that I'm not excited on waking up everyday of my life even on weekdays, but weekends is what I really love. It's the perfect time for relaxation and other things that I might want to do, the thing is, I always want to spend my quality time especially the weekends on things that I really love and here's the video that I created to show some of those things. Enjoy!


P.S.


If you enjoyed this then why not answer the same question above?:) and join the super astig contest :) Here's how:


Visit  Azrael Coladilla's site :) 


Here's the Mechanics:

1. Blog, Tweet, Plurk or Post on Facebook the answer to the question, "What makes you super excited about the weekends?"

2. Add a photo or a video clip to make it super!

3. Post the URL link of your super entry as a comment to this site: 
(Reminder: Make sure that your post is not set to private.)

4. Super deadline of entries is on Sunday, February 6.

5. The Super Pwede winning entry will be determined by a panel of judges including (Azrael Cordilla) and representatives from Globe.

6. One (1) grand prize winner will get a Super Free weekend fun & pamper package worth P5,000 for you and a friend.

10 consolation prizes of P200 Globe Prepaid load will also be given out for you to experience Globe Prepaid’s Super Free Weekends!


So, what are you waiting for?:) GO! :)


Cheers,
Gracee

Congratulations to all the California Pizza Kitchen Gift Certificate winners!!!

Congratulations to all the California Pizza Kitchen Gift Certificate winners!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1)

Last night, thanks to Club Zed, me and my friends get to watch the blocked screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After all this months of waiting, finally I get to watch the first installment of the movie. Quite thrilling infact.

Without any qualms, I must say that this movie is Harry Potter movie is a mesmerizing, spell-binding cinematic achievement, and easily the best Potter film to date.

To tell you the truth, this movie would be good for those die hard fans of Harry Potter out there and for those who have read the book from the start, but if you haven’t read it or you haven’t watch any part of the movie, it is advised that you choose other movie to watch because you will be completely lost.

The world of wizardry is going through a hard time with Voldemort seeming unstoppable turning the world upside down. More and more challenges awaits the three friends who’s on a quest to destroy the Horcruxes!

Deathly Hallows Part 1 follows best friends Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) as they try to find and destroy the Horcruxes which the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) hid pieces of his soul in as part of his plan to cheat death and rule all. The teen wizards and witch, however, are up against much deadlier obstacles this time around. Not only must they try to achieve their goal without the wisdom and guidance of Albus Dumbledore (he died at the end of the previous movie, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince), they must also do so without being caught by Voldemort’s supporters, who are all out to destroy  Harry.

“Harry could not quite comprehend it. Mad-Eye dead; it could not be…Mad-Eye, so tough, so brave, the consummate survivor.”

—Harry’s reaction on Moody’s death

In this film, you should really pay a closer look about the names and nouns that they are mentioning all throughout the movie for example Horcruxes. If you don’t know anything about this, well, too bad because when you get to watch this first installment, I think the movie makers already assume that you know everything about the story, that you’ve watch the films and read the book. Although when I get to watch the scenes when they were first attacked by the death eaters and Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody was killed in the process, I felt like the scenes were getting rushed. I’ve read that Harry Potter buried his eye (the only part of his body that was found) in the forest where the Quidditch World Cup was help although they didn’t put that in the movie. Mad-Eye’s magical eye was salvaged by the Death Eaters, and then, after the fall of the Ministry, given to the new head of its Muggle Born Registration Commission‘s Head, Dolores Umbridge, possibly as a gift. It was set in the wood of her office door and used to aid her in spying on her workers. When Harry, Hermione and Ron infiltrated the Ministry to find the locket Horcrux, Harry discovered the eye and, disgusted by how it was being used, stole it. Doing so, however, raised the alarm. Then everything seems to be in a blurry, from the bad timing wedding where they were also attacked by the death eaters then you have to take it from there.

“Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from that cellar. It’s so unfair that you had to die, when you were so good and so brave. I’ll always remember what you did for us. I hope you’re happy now.” 

 

—Luna Lovegood at Dobby’s funeral.

Alas! I also cried when Dobby “The Free Elf”  died. I can’t help it. This is the scene where Harry And Ron were forced to surrender when Bellatrix threatened to cut Hermione’s throat with a knife. Dobby announced his return by causing a chandelier to fall on Bellatrix. Harry seized the wands Draco Malfoy was holding, and stunned Greyback. Ron collected Hermione and Disappeared.

As Harry and the others disappeared, Bellatrix threw her knife at him. Arriving at the sea side, Harry discovered that Dobby had been fatally wounded by Bellatrix’s thrown knife. Dobby died moments later, his final words being “Harry Potter”.

I also love the part when they took Polyjuice Potion to look like Harry Potter so that they can serve as decoys for sudden ambush of Lord Voldemort as they move Harry to a safer place. Seeing them perform multiple version of Harry is really funny, a comic relief that only lasted for a minute since the next scenes where action packed.

Although I was kind of confused because there were scenes in the movie that when I asked around, it was not part of the book like when Hermione is removing all the traces of herself from the memory of her muggle parents and as well as their home, I find it a little too hard to believe that a daughter can do such a thing, or perhaps she only do that so that her parents will not know her dangerous whereabouts. There’s also a part there where Harry and Hermione where dancing and I liked that part, it reminded me that I was once a fan of their love team, that they really look good together.

All in all, definitely a must watch if you have been reading the books and watching the movies all these years. Who would pass this movie? I am vowing to read the book so that I can understand it more. There’s no harm in reading it late, I still enjoyed watching the movie. This is by far one of the best creations ever written and ever created in the movie scene.

Stephen King’s statement about the Deathly Hallows is true about the first installment of the movie that the high death toll on the side of the good guys, and the hair-trigger suspense resulting from Voldemort’s relentless pursuit of Harry, this latest Potter installment has more in common with an intense and violent horror movie than a harmless fantasy film for the entire family. By date, this is one of the most awaited movies of all time..Directed by David Yates. 

This is the official rating of the Author.

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 will not be in HD

So much with the anticipation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part that I didn't see it coming. I never thought Warner Bros. will make such a decision. In a surprising move, Warner Bros. has decided NOT to release ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1′ in 3D because of post-conversion time constraints.

It seems like the studio doesn’t want to put out an inferior product by rushing the 3D, like what happened to others 3D movies that left the audience feeling somehow bitter about the movie they watched. They wanted to make this movie worth it.

A statement from Warner Bros. goes like this:

Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality. We do not want to disappoint fans who have long-anticipated the conclusion of this extraordinary journey.

But inspite of this, I'm sure fans doesn't mind at all or do they? for me, I really hope they considered this, not like this. Most of the Harry Potter fans out there are so excited to watch it on 3D.

Deathly Hallows director, David Yates, added his own thoughts on the situation:

For 10 years, we have worked alongside Alan Horn and the studio, whose priority has always been to preserve the integrity of Jo Rowling’s books as we have adapted them to the screen, and this decision reflects that commitment… This decision, which we completely support, underscores the fact that Warner Bros. has always put quality first.

At the end of the day, the 3D is just part of the reason fans may be looking forward to the final Harry Potter installments. And even if you’re still desperate for Harry Potter 3D action, then you can rest assured that the final part of the film, Deathly Hallows Part 2, will hit theaters in both 2D and 3D as planned. The reason for that is WB has nine months to take the time on the conversion of Part 2 to 3D.

As for Part 1, you can still enjoy it in both regular theaters and in IMAX so there’s still plenty of anticipation for all of us.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 will hit theaters (only in 2D) on November 19th, 2010, with Part 2 following next summer (in both 2D and 3D) on July 15th, 2011.

“What have you done for yourself lately?”

Let me tell you what I’ve been through. I was in that special place that only people in love know about. Romance was alive and my soulmate was revealed to me as the only person I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. My world evolved around that person as if this is the only person alive. Then suddenly it happened: the phase that I think some relationships goes through, when your partner suddenly gets tired of you and wanted something new.

Whatever you call that phase, I experienced it. I suddenly found myself alone. Single again. I spend my days in a fog, all too blurry, wondering where it all went so horribly wrong. Blaming myself for not seeing the breakup coming and hating myself for not acting sooner to avoid being single again.

It’s time to get out of that fog, to do for myself what I wish others would do, spend some special time with a special person, MYSELF. I took few small baby-steps and I tired to get to know myself more. Sometimes people think that being single after a big breakup is not much of a big deal. Well it is. Some even undergo mental changes when this happens. My friends didn’t encourage me to meet another special someone because they know that I am in a fragile state right now and that I need to understand what kind of a great person I am, outwardly and inwardly. I need to have confidence. Once again. 

So what have I done for myself lately? A lot of things. Being single, at this point gives me a lot of new things to try. 

with my badminton family

in action

I realized it’s time for me to begin a good exercise regimen. I joined my officemates in their daily not too strenuous sports activity which is Badminton. I actually enjoyed it. For some years I never enjoyed sports that much but this time, I enjoyed it. It gave me good physical endurance and at the same time it helped me have some clear-thinking time. When I am playing Badminton, I concentrate on what I am doing, I became aware of the people around me. After that I feel rejuvenated. Exercise is something new to me and it feels wonderful and refreshing.

Oplan Sagipin ang mga Binagyo

I also share some of my new-found spare time with a local volunteer group. I’ve always been part of organizations but lately, I have been stagnant. This time, I do my share to help others. It’s a blessing to help others and a worth while organization can be a very productive way to help myself as well. Many people, told me that volunteering is a great way to meet others that share your same interests, but I feel it is a great way to not only give of myself but to learn a little more of myself as well.

Mesa Filipino Moderne

Chelsea

Savory

Eat and Go

I also treated myself to a well deserved eat out that can be very refreshing. I ate alone and nourished myself. Some people are scared to eat alone or better yet felt ashamed to be seen eating alone. I don’t mind now.  It feels rewarding to know that I can do something independently and eating out by myself is something new to me. Just me and a fancy menu can be very rewarding and relaxing. After that I can share my experience to my friends so that they can check out the resto for themselves.

I know that we live on some type of financial budget. But this didn’t keep me from my new experience of doing the grocery all by myself and using my own money! I know some people do this all the time but I never had the chance of doing it alone then buying things that I really want in the grocery then cooking it for myself in the end. I find it really cool now to go the grocery and just splurge! I perfectly understand why my mom loves going to the grocery and this will not be the last time that I will do it, I will do the grocery all the time from now on.

Puka Beach in Boracay

My very first jump shot at the beach

Fire dancing :)

New places bring you to new experiences and new people. This is what I experienced as well. I engaged my self into traveling. Something that I really wanted for the past few years. To discover new places and enrich myself of the new cultures and go to places I have never been. I enjoyed my first time at Boracay and just the sight of the pure white sand beach gave me the bliss that I am craving for. 

Underground Cemetery, Nagcarlan, Laguna

I also went to Nagcarlan, Laguna where I visited the Underground Cemetery and learned a lot of things from the historical background of the place. I toured in my own hometown as well, I went to the White Cross and at the top I felt all the love and blessings of the Lord. It feels good to climb at the top. I learned something new and that when I realized that this is where my heart is. Blogging and traveling.  It gives me the excitement to try new things and meet new people. 

Jay Sean Concert

 I also love music and with that I enjoyed myself into watching the concerts that I really love featuring the artists that I have been dying to see. Dancing to the beat of the music and thumping my way to relaxation is a big comfort. Sometimes, it's nice to loose yourself with the beat of the music.

 

There is no reason why my change in relationship status requires me to be lonely or alone. It’s all up to me to make myself available and in a few easy steps I’ll have a wonderful time of new experiences, new places and new faces. This is what I have done for myself lately. To love myself more and enjoyed my sole presence in this world. To give myself time to enjoy what life has to offer.