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More on the OFW Brouhaha

I got this link through MyePinoy's blog, about an article written by Manila Standard columnist Emil Jurado. Very interesting comment of Mr. Jurado, who opines that while the outrage over Malu Fernandez’s bigotry in her travel article From Boracay to Greece was “natural and forthcoming, ” , she also “wrote what she thought and sensed”. He also says "she told the truth. Everybody knows that”. I’m not sure if Mr. Jurado is trying to play knight with the shining mustache trying to rescue Miss Divalicious from the imbroglio, but what truth is he alluding to? The truth that MF is matapobre?

Jurado better stick to the subject when he talks about OFW’s needing to “behave properly and not to give foreigners an impression that all Filipinos conduct themselves the way they do”. We are talking about plane rides here aren’t we? Then why bitch about Pinay domestic helpers being blacklisted in malls in Hongkong and Singapore – what has this to do with the argument? He raises a big stink about Pinoy OFW’s unloading their luggage before the seat belt sign is turned off - well, I have seen this happen in Asian airports and even here in Canada and what’s the big deal anyway? Because his wife was nearly hit with the luggage? If Jurado is hell bent with “educating” our migrant workers with good manners and right conduct to protect the Filipino's image, he better start his sanitation campaign with the Trans-Pacific PAL flights where life vests disappear and with the embarrassing note “ STEALING OF LIFE VESTS IS PUNISHABLE UNDER PHIL LAW” displayed in every passenger cabin. These flights aren’t OFW loaded flights but strange things happen which Mr. Jurado is ignorant of. On a couple of occasions in his article the good author wanted to confront the problem makers but his wife intervened and urged him to hold on to his horses. Come to think of it – if he did confront them and sorted things out, he perhaps didn’t need to write this article. Now Mr. Under D' Saya must thank his wife, that he had to write this article and get paid for it :)

And here’s a classic suck-up, Johnny-be-good colonial mentality of the writer – “ I have nothing about them smelling bad or dressing with their usual uniform of T-shirt and denims with sneakers, because many foreigners, especially Americans, do the same while traveling”. Hahaha ! What a shallow, pedestrian, retarded, incongruous rationale that negated and obliterated any bit of sense this author was trying to make. This makes me stop right here. I have nothing more to say :)


TRAFFIC FINES

How much does one have to pay for a traffic violation? Most countries have a schedule of fines based on the nature of traffic offences but apparently not in Finland , where traffic fines are assessed based on the offender’s net income !

A Nokia senior executive 46.5 mph in a 30-mph zone was fined a whopping $103,000! Blame it on his previous year’s net income of $5.2 Million ! If this happened to Tiger Woods who made some $87 M income his fine would $1.7 million? Ouch.. Now this is something, isn’t it ? The Nokia exec's fine was ultimately reduced by the courts to $5,245 but probably not including the services of savvy lawyers who command ludicrous fees for their services. How much did the lawyers get to soften the fine? Definitely not a good feeling when a minor indiscretion can blow up your piggy bank. In view of their punitive fines I would imagine the Finns to be the safest drivers in the world :) 


PARKING FINES

Here’s a startling stat – the Greater Toronto Area government nets some $80M in parking fines every year. Last year the major contributors are three courier companies – Fedex, Purolator and UPS contributing $1.5M with some 33,000 tickets issued collectively to them ! Now these companies justify the fines as their cost of doing business :) Problem is here you can’t ignore government issued parking tickets. If you don’t pay, they’d hit you with the fine when you renew your car registration – you can’t hide. $80M is serious money – perhaps that’s where they get the money for road repairs every year hehe :)

Awards, Meme Tag and Quotes

I would like to thank those who had given me recognition as Thinking ( Major Tom, Ipanema, Bing, Verns, Kathy) and Thoughtful ( Ipanema, Bing) blogger. For what it means (up to now I'm not sure if I really deserve it !) it is greatly appreciated indeed and I apologize if I missed a name. The thoughtful part had made me think of changing my avatar for one :) Now let's get to the difficult part - my turn to bestow the awards :) Not that I am avoiding getting in trouble ( and I already did.. once ..haha..), I honestly think that every blogger in my blogroll is unique and gifted on their own right. Everyone has a different style and I equally enjoy reading personal accounts, commentaries on current events, photos, jokes, hilarious experiences - I love them all. As such, I have no compulsion to judge one blogger over another in terms of intellectual content of the blog. It is also fair to say that in our interaction, we tend to develop an opinion of the blogger's personality which is for the most part a case of perception. In my mind I have a virtual personality profile of each of you and I'm sure you do of me too and I hope it is positive :) One day I hope to write a couple of paragraphs on the virtual profile that I have for each of you in the spirit of levity and fun :) Blogging is really a free for all deal to have fun and friendship in such an unregulated medium as cyberspace where the only one unwritten rule reigns supreme - respect.

If there's one award that I can probably criticize it is the Most Influential Blogger Award :) I'm not sure how one can quantify a blog that has the "most telling effect" on people and does negative influence also count ? hehe :) We just love constests and raffles, don't we? We even have raffles on domestic plane flights! The Cebu Pacific flight I took once had raffles galore the entire 45 min flight from Manila to Bacolod. It was hilarious - like someone who can produce a nail cutter gets a free hat. Just imagine the resulting commotion inside the plane hehe :) That's just us Pinoys having fun with our competetive nature whenever we can :)

I believe the last one who tagged me with the "8 random facts about me" was Kathy. Sorry for the late response but here it is :

1. I sported moustache for my entire life but got rid of it about 5 years ago at the behest of my wife.

2. I write down my "blog thoughts" into my Blackberry no matter how spurious so I can work on them later

3. I've travelled to 20 countries in counting but the farthest I had gone south is Dumaguete which is pretty sad indeed. I plan to make up for it and visit our lovely motherland more often.

4. I used to teach at my Sunday school in my church believe it or not. At some point in our lives we embark on that quest for transcendence and I got hooked with religion for a while...until I got discouraged with the arrogance of triumphalism and backed off a bit. I still have my guiding beliefs intact - no need to flaunt it I think.

5. I love falling asleep in the family room couch watching TV, sometimes until morning.

6. The best concert I ever watched in my life was Little River Band and Seals and Crofts in one show, in the early 90's at the then Ontario Place ampitheatre ( open air) for an unbelievable 6 bucks - minus the chair , sitting on the grass hehe :)

7. I befriended an exiled Bangsamoro leader back in the late 80's during the Marcos regime. It was friendship and had nothing to do with politics.

8. I am lousy with my blog grammar. I always discover spelling errors, missing conjunctions and articles after publishing my post which I had to correct countless of times.

QUOTES

George W. had caused a bit of a stir in at the APEC ( Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)Summit in Sydney, Australa when in his speech he referred to APEC as OPEC ( Organization of Petroleum Operating Countries). He further added insult to injury when he thanked the "Austrians" for their contributions in the fight for Iraq :) And to cap the debacle, he went the wrong way when exiting the stage hahaha :) A case of too much beer at breakfast perhaps ? The Reuters news report playfully refers to the incident as Bush's " gift of gaffe" LOL :)

A car plate on one of the SUV's at train parking lot I saw the other day had this printed on the bottom corner "Pilots make smoother approaches". I'm not sure if it means pilots are savvy, safe drivers or a just subtle show of tacky braggadocio. People certainly have strange ways of expressing themselves but this one kept me thinking - what in the world was the driver ( who I presume was a pilot) really trying to say?

David Lam, former Lieut. Gov. of British Columbia, Canada has this to say : "Tolerance is somewhat of a negative word. It can mean that you smell bad so I must hold my breath. " Hmmm.. A bizzare, unexpected quote from a multicultural guy. In a multicultural society, tolerance is preached left and right and here goes the Lieut Gov. attempting to throw a hammer into the fire by saying that tolerance is tantamount to holding your breath, closing your eyes and letting the stink pass through. Was this the case of truth better left unsaid?

THE CORNIEST JOKES


Have you ever encountered a corny and artless pedestrian joke that sounds funny not for anything but its sheer "corny-ness" ? Here's two that I read in a Pinoy paper here recently which made me curse myself for laughing :)

Joke 1 :

Man A : Pare, ang sama ng paganinip ko kagabi
Man B : Bakit, ano ang napanaginipan mo?
Man A : Pare, nasa beauty contest raw ako, napaligirin ng 50 lovely beauty contestants
Man B : eh, ano naman ang masama nun? Magagandang babae pala ang nakapaligid sa iyo e !
Man A : Oo nga, pero ako raw ang nanalo sa beauty contest eh.

Joke 2 :

Boy : Nay, kamuntik na akong mapiling No. 1 sa klase ko !
Nanay : Siyanga ? E di ang taas siguro ng mga grado mo!
Tatay : Ang galing mo talaga anak. Second place ka ba?
Boy : Sayang, kamuntik na talaga ako kasi ang napili ng titser ay katabi ko sa upuan

On Contentment

I broke my promise for the second time . I promised to post only 4 topics from the book Rules of Life but here's my sixth post. I'm bad :( I'd be honest to say that my compulsion to post what had been hovering in my brain for the past few weeks is so overwhelming that it defeated my sense of decorum, at the risk of being accused of plagiarism :) Rule 65 - Contentment is A High Aim - is one rule that gave me some sense of perspective when I'm bouncing in and out of the state of quandary, wondering if happiness is ever achievable.


Quote....

Rule 65 - Contentment is a High Aim

If you ask a lot of people what they want in life, they say, “Oh, just to be happy I guess”. Same goes if you ask what they want for their children, “I don’t mind what they do as long as they are happy”. You’d be better off wishing that you or your children could be astronauts or brain surgeons – at least you’re in with a sporting chance then. You can train. They can qualify.

Happiness is such an illusory thing that spending too much time chasing it is not very worthwhile. Happiness is one end of a spectrum – misery being the other end. It is a state of extreme, just as misery represents the other end. If you check back at the times in your life when you’ve been happy – or thought you might have been – I’ll bet there were extreme things involved. The birth of a child? Excitement yes. Wonder yes. Relief at successful birth. Yes. But happiness? I’m not sure.

People think they’ll be happy on holiday when they mean relaxed or stimulated or freed from their cares – and indeed they are. Aiming for happiness is one of those “bigger is best” things. You’re never going to make it because there is no top limit. You just have to go on aiming for even bigger all the time. Instead of aiming happy, it’s better to aim for contentment. Now that’s attainable. Now that’s a worthy goal.

This applies especially to relationships – both to the quest to find Mr or Mrs Right and in what happens when you do. Most of us want to fall madly head-over-heels in love. Big chemistry – fireworks, butterflies, unbelievable feelings. It’s brilliant. It’s extreme. But that intensity can’t and won’t last. You have to go back to reality sometime. You have to get on with your life. No one can live at that intensity, that lofty attitude all the time. Contentment is what you hope for after the elation has worn off and you settle back into a relaxed and happy simplicity. In fact, contentment is the worthier aim because it lasts.

And so if you find you are with somebody where there is no big fireworks display, palpitations and extreme of feelings but there is a baseline contentment and warmth and love – be happy with that.

Unquote.....


If a Buddhist monk or a Catholic priest approaches me to pitch their version of happiness exemplified by the way they live their lives - they win. I cannot pretty much argue with theological reasoning of folks who live sacrificially to attain a higher level of happiness. But I'm not them and they're not me and we must not compare apples to oranges.

People have varying beliefs and opinions of where true happiness come from. Some of us are in an incessant quest for money because it begets power and consequently fame. The problem with material happiness is it behaves like a drug, You need a constant dose of it to enjoy the high. The new things we acquire , be it a car, a house a new computer becomes obsolete rather quickly. The things we use to be giddy about becomes boring after a while and then comes the unstoppable urge to change, add, modify or upgrade so we can get that feeling of excitement again. I went on a cruise and vacation with my family last winter only to find out on my return to the office that the pressure of work is still the same - as shitty as ever. I don't seem to be happy as I was working in this job anymore. This phenomenon is also true with relationships. Over a period of time our partners become boring and unattractive as the aging process takes its toll on the body. Does it mean we have to change our partners once the sparks, the bells and whistles die down?

I am reminded of the story a friend told me about his acquaintance, a man who rode the dot com bandwagon at crest of its success. The company he founded hit pay dirt and made him a millionaire many times over. Despite his tremendous success and wealth, his parents continued to live in their modest bungalow, refusing his offer to move them to a much bigger home. The parents were retired folks who lived comfortably on their pensions and the modest wealth they accumulated in their working years. An offer for a limo ride to a restaurant on their annual wedding anniversary and a free cruise once a year are about the only things they would accept from their wealthy son. The parents are clearly contented with what they have in life and didn't need anything from anyone.

I do agree that religious teachings can knuckle us down and help filter our thoughts and emotions, provide us a much needed dose of a reality check and make us understand of things that count and those that don't. In short, the combination of our experiences and religious beliefs work hand in hand to help us understand the meaning of contentment. I believe that contentment is the magic formula of life I need to learn, if only to avoid the frustration of finding "happiness".

U.S. Americans and The Iraq

Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton pulled up an unexpected brain teaser at the Miss Teen USA pageant when she was asked the question :

Q : Recent polls have shown that a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on the world map. Why do you think this is?




HUH !? say it again ? The startling thing about this episode is one has to write down her statements to be able to decipher some sense of logic and direction . I thought for the moment my brain was infected by a Trojan horse virus.. until I saw one of the YouTube poster's comments was a transcript of her entire answer. Nope it's not me, not my brains pal!

Here's what she said :

A: I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because uh... some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uh... and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US should help South Africa and should uh help Iraq and the asian countries ( DING DING ) so we will be able to build up our future....for..

Not sure of the exact time alloted for the answer period but that was 1 minute of chatter and wordplay that registered not a single bit of meaningful information in my brain, save for a fitting appendage to the lexicon of Bushism . If George Bush invented new words such as misunderestimate, misjudgemental and strategery- well, here's a new one for the list he might like - U.S. Americans.


ONE LUCKY DOG

Muli-millionaire luxury hotelier Leona Helmsley, known for her aversion to paying taxes which resulted in her indictment for tax evasion in the 80's recently died at age 87. She left the bulk of her cash, some 12 million in trust fund to her pet dog name Trouble. Two of her grandchildren got zilch, nada and other relatives got significantly less than what the dog got. The dog will also have the privilege to be buried alongside Leona in her mausoleum. 12 mil is sure lot of money for a lifetime supply of Purina and frisbees for Trouble :) I wonder if Trouble is also insured and who might be his beneficiary?


TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

I read this little write up in a magazine lately :

A friend of mine bought a new fridge for his house. Top get rid of his old fridge, he put in his front yard and hung an sign on it saying " free to go home. You want it, you take it"

For 3 days the fridge sat there with even one person looking twice at it. He eventually decided that people were too untrusting of this deal - it looked too good to be true. So he changed the sign to read : Fridge for sale $50" The next day someone stole it.

I'm one person who shrugs off too good to be true looking deals without hesitation. Maybe I'm wrong by sticking to percentages all the time. Maybe there are sweet deals out there to be had. Maybe there are people who still mean what they say. Maybe it's not all about business all the time. Maybe I need to be prepared to waste my time and bother to ask. Who knows.

Divalicious Babe Gets The Boot

For the past week the Pinoy blogword was rocking violently in response to the deprecating comments that Malu Fernandez spewed against Pinoy OFWs in her Asia Today article " From Boracay to Greece"published in June 07 . Malu F, self-proclaimed diva, fashion and travel columnist was harshly criticized by Pinoys all over the world for her disparaging remarks on Pinoy OFW's in the Middle East who she disdained to be associated with in the Emirates Airlines flight to Greece. Her reasons for her use of discriminatory language such as " I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them " and thinking of riding with these people on the trip was like being "sent by God to my very own private hell" were attributed to her "acerbic wit" meaning trying to be brutally frank and funny at the same time. Her initial apology was tongue in cheek, at best perfunctory when she lashed back that she was just trying to be true to herself ( read : matapobre? So what..) and should not be vilified for her beliefs. The protests grew ever bigger and more vicious and rightfully so which prompted her to resign and issue a proper apology.

There is no reason to beat Malu F black and blue as the hatchets have been buried but if we were to conduct a post-mortem, here's my thoughts on the issue :

a. We know we are not a classless society and no matter what people think such bigotry and discriminatory remarks should be kept to one's self. More often, in our self-examination we can make deprecating remarks publicly to ourselves as Pinoys collectively. We can lambast our politicians and movie stars whose existence are owed to us but not a particular group of people who have done nothing to offend us.

b. Malu F was writing for a reputable magazine and not her personal blog. Why was this atrocious article even published? Does Asia Today have editors? Why sanction such trash to be published and viewed all over Asia ? Whatever happened to responsible journalism ?

c. OFWs aren't a low class trapo that she portrayed them to be. They're a hardworking and proud group of people who deserve to be respected. There are many educated and gainfully employed Pinoys who have gone to work abroad. The protests from OFW blogs that booted her out is a proof of this.

SPEAKING OF " TRUE DIVAS "

Call me old fashioned, mushy, getting older or what not but I dig real music. In this day and age, real music is rare and hard to find. One music that stands out in my mind is " THE PRAYER" , a Grammy and Golden Globe winning song composed by topnotch composers David Foster and Carol Bayer Sager for the animated movie Quest for Camelot and sung by diva par excellence, Celine Dion and blind tenor Andrea Bocelli. The composers and singers are creme of the crop and the product speaks of itself - flawless and immaculate, one of the finest expressions of art. The song is a hybrid of ballad and opera and when watched being performed by a true diva and equally capable partner would, borrowing the lyrics of a famous Josh Groban song, " fly you up beyond the distant stars".

What could be a better combination than Celine Dion and Josh Groban and David Foster himself on the piano ?



Or the lovely Welsh pop and opera diva and superstar Charlotte Church and Josh Groban ?



Who do you think sang it better ? If you think they are superb and awesome, most people think that the original version of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli would be hard to beat .

Apple Crumble Craving

Nope, those are not cow dung hehe :) They look so uninspiring , don't they ? They're glorious apple crumble pie. The darker one with a crispy crust of oats and raisins is for me and the lighter one minus the thick crust is for my daughter. Would you drive 125 kms one way to sample a scrumptious, hot and fresh home made apple crumble pie baked before your eyes ? I would and I did ! Last Sunday afternoon that intense craving took me to Big Apple . After a hefty snack of slices of apple crumble pies, we brought home 4 whole pies for the freezer.


It's business as usual in Big Apple. The last time I visited and blogged about the place was in November 2006. Apple pies are still being sold in good numbers. The last time I was there the total number of pies (whole) sold to walk in customers was 2,685,240 and last Sunday's figure was 2, 926, 274. Not bad considering that the winter months are normally very slow periods.




Could you spot something wrong in this picture ? I've noticed 2 glaring errors ! Let's see if you can find it. I noticed that this place is closer to the North Pole than most European cities LOL :) Nope we are not in the Artic tundra hehe :) 5,250 kms is still a good 6 hrs flight to the land of Santa Claus :)







Ang Kasinugnalingan Na Pinakalapit Sa Katotohanan

Ang isang ay hari ay nalulon sa pag-aaral ng Pilosopiya sa pamamagitan ng turo ng mga matatalinong ministro ng kanyang cabinete. Isang araw nagisip ang hari ng isang mabisang paraan upang makapagasawa ang kanyang nag-iisang anak na dalaga. Nais ng hari na makapagasawa ang kanyang anak ng pinakamatalinong lalake. Sa kanyang panganasa na mapadali ang paghanap ng uliran na sinasabing lalake, ang hari ay gumawa ng isang paligsahan na masasalihan lamang ng mga kalalakihan ng kanyang kaharian. Ang lalake na makapagsabi sa kanya ng isang KASINUNGALINGAN NA PINAKALAPIT SA KOTOTOHANAN ay siyang magkakamit ng pinakaswerteng gantimpala - ang karapatan na mapangasawa ang kanyang anak na prinsesa. Subalit ang paligsahan na ito ay mapanganib. Ang katumbas ng maling sagot ay pugot ulo. Ang sagot ay dapat mapatunayan upang maturing na kaaya-aya at tumpak sa pag-iisip ng hari.

Si Juan ay isang matalinong magsasaka. Nang nalaman ni Juan ang paligsahan, siya ay nagalak at nagbalak sumali. Sino nga naman ang ayaw makapangasawa ng prinsesa at maging manugang ng hari! Si Juan ay nagpalista sa paligsahan at humarap sa korte ng hari :

Hari : Magiting na lalake, magsabi ka ng isang kasinunaligan na pinakalapit sa katotohanan. Alalahanin mo na pag hindi tumpak ang iyung sagot sa aking pagaakala ang hatol ay mo kamatayan.

Juan : Mahal na hari, kayo po ba ay pinanganak sa puwet ng nanay ninyo?

Hari : Yan ay isang malaking kasinugalingan!

Juan : Tumpak kayo mahal na hari! Subalit, napakalapit po sa katotohanan. Mahigit kumulang sa isang pulgada lang ang pagitan!

Hari : ( nagisip...) Huh? OO nga ano..t..t..tama ka. Bwaka ng.... Pati nanay ko idinamay mo pa.

Ang matalinong magsasakang Juan ang nagwagi at nagtagumpay sa kanyang pangarap na mapangasawa ang magandang prinsesa ng kaharian.