what crisis?

crisis. a word that is so common today. recession in a lot of first world countries is going on because of the affluent's high maintenance of their lifestyle like a king in a third world using maximum credit bills who doesn't pay on time. it's a domino effect since we live in a global village. 

here in my third world, nothing exaggeratedly changed. except for those who work overseas or those who enslave themselves for multinational ones. last that i know of around november 2008 when i was still in advertising, studies shown that nearly 80% of 88 million people in the philippines are considered poor. meaning they are those who live in the provinces and slums. we are used to being poor and i thank God that at this time and age, poverty saved us from the rest of the world. 

my family's small business was affected by the asian economic crisis in 1997 since we import goods from hongkong who imports from japan. to the point that we are still struggling to come back to its prime. we roughly lost around php 17,000,000.00 ($ 6.8M). at that time, it was big. i was living a princess' life in an underdeveloped country until we're hit by the crisis. my dad provided me with everything and spoiled me from all the material luxuries and lifestyle a girl can have. then as the years progress, we never felt we lost that hard because my dad was a very jolly person. i never felt it. although we had to cut back on buying things and lessened our dining out and shopping. we grew up okay but i sometimes wonder what if that crisis never happened. could i had the chance to study abroad or yearly vacation overseas. hence, my parents did provide me well. of course, it's not all about the money. 

lately i've been contemplating about a lot of stuff. am i actually in a quarter-life crisis? so i typed in at wikipedia and found a checklist.

on emotional aspects... characteristics of quarter-life crisis may include:

•  feeling "not good enough" because one can't find a job that is at one's academic/intellectual level -- check
  
• frustration with relationships, the working world, and finding a suitable job or career -- check, check, check 
  
• confusion of identity -- oh i very much know myself
  
• insecurity regarding the near future -- check
  
• insecurity concerning long-term plans, life goals -- check
  
• insecurity regarding present accomplishments -- nah im proud of it
  
• re-evaluation of close interpersonal relationships -- check. you really don't know who are sincere versus the plastics until you really get to know them.
  
• disappointment with one's job -- uber check
  
• nostalgia for university, college, high school or elementary school life -- check. maybe that's why i want to take my mba.
  
• tendency to hold stronger opinions -- check. i'm just opinionated with almost everything.
  
• boredom with social interactions -- not with social interactions. i'm just way bored.
  
• loss of closeness to high school and college friends -- i stay in touch with very few selected ones. hi to my college friend maan who said she's an avid fan of this blog. :)
  
• financially-rooted stress (overwhelming college loans, unanticipatedly high cost of living, etc.) -- so check
• loneliness -- check.....
• desire to have children -- check. omg. 
• a sense that everyone is, somehow, doing better than you -- i don't care about other people's business

i agree in 11 out of the 16 statements. so i am and i don't know the cure. i am praying that i'll get over this and pick up the little pieces for it to be whole again. to those who pretty much feels the same way, pat your shoulders from me, i know it'll be alright. :)

"if i was a rich girl.. no man can test me, impress me, my cash flow would never ever end cause i'd have all the money in the world if i was a wealthy girl.." -- gwen stefani

love thyself

how far will one person go in the name of beauty? well one, you must have money. the sessions are quite expensive. i was offered a cheap liposuction but i never liked the idea to go under the knife and i'm afraid of not needles but the surgery. i'd rather pay for the pricey laser treatments than that. then again it's a matter of the moolah which i barely have. 

i have insecurities in my body, of course i'm a woman. but i don't feel bad about it. i wish it were like this or that but i'm okay with it. i eat sweets and other junk food and then make sure to burn it all in an hour of grueling sauna-like bicycling room. i'm stepping up the challenge to myself to do again the phase 1 of southbeach diet which i've been prolonging to do. it means no carbs for 2 weeks which will make me hot-tempered and hot-headed. it's going to be a detox and a withdrawal syndrome when you take away the sweets away from me. 

oh sugar and starch, i have to avoid you for 2 weeks for me to achieve my goal. the anticipated result is for me not to crave for you. synonymous if i want to forget somebody. it just takes time. but i'm sure of the end result... hell great. 

philippine islands

singing *it's getting hot in herrreee* from nelly's famed song years back. yes, it's getting hotter and hotter in my beloved country specially the months of april and may. people flock to the beaches and getting ready to show off their toned bodies. due to the more than 7000 islands in the philippines, there are so many places i still haven't seen since i grew up in the city. 

the most famous is boracay island in aklan because of it's white sand beaches and parties with clubs and bars at the stretch of the beachfront patterned after bora-bora, ibiza. 

this is where i last stayed and i loved it so much because it's beachfront

there are many beautiful places to go to and here is my top destination list that i have yet to see:

>> amanpulo resort at pamalican island, palawan --- it's part of the aman luxury resorts worldwide and rumored that tom cruise and other hollywood stars had been there. such an irony that locals have to pay in dollars and a lot cannot afford to step in this island. must be really heaven. 

amanpulo

>> panglao island, bohol --- another white sand... i'd love to swim here.

eskaya resort beachfront

>> mactan island, cebu --- it is said that the europeans back in the 1500s first stepped here.. the legendary ferdinand magellan. so now it's known for it's luxury resorts. 

the only hilton cebu resort and spa

>> camiguin island, mindanao --- i'd love to go back to camiguin. the last time i was here, i really appreciated mother nature for giving such lovely place. 

this is called the white island 

you can only see it whenever it's low tide and back to the sea when it's high tide

katibawasan falls

i remember swimming here and it's so beautiful

for more visual pleasure check these out! :D

commercial shown in cnn 3 years back

wowphilippines 5-minute avp

i quote: "we're oriental and western too.." 

so true.. a melting pot of malay, chinese, american, spanish and japanese cultures. that's the filipino culture. 

beauty special

as a young single woman who is still knowing herself, experiments with dating and struggles with her career, wonders... what really makes a woman happy and content? is it her status in life or having a love in her life or is it settling down and have a family? they say you must have both, the career and love. but what about those who just have one out of the two or none at all just because they opt to.

i blame it not on the alcohol but on the hormones for being happy and sad. there are days when i feel i'm so glee about nothing and there are depressing days when sudden attacks of loneliness occur. one day, a friend sent me an e-book entitled, 'how to find your one true love' by bo sanchez who happened to be an ex-priest who got married. since i like to read self-help (because yes, i do need help! lol) and relationship books, i quickly started to read it. he said a lot of tips and advices and what i became most interested is the chapter entitled "be attractive."

attraction secrets from a guy's point of view  (from 'how to find your one true love' by bo sanchez)

1. feel you're beautiful

-- it's true that whatever you project happens. so you might as well promote a positive one about yourself.

2. don't hide your sexuality

-- it's human nature. just sing the song, i got it from my mama! haha

3. be happy 

-- it just means be contented with what God gave you and read: law of attraction. ;)

4. be friendly

  -- smile is the word

5. be humble

-- as what the lady on the radio said about her user-ex, "shempre di mo naman pwede sabihin sa lalake na mayaman ka!" ("of course you can't tell a guy you have more money than him!") hahaha

6. be affirming

-- ergo, he must feel like a god hahahaha

7. be modest

-- don't look like a slut when you're walking at the mall lol

8. be yourself

-- stay normal to your crush. if he likes you no ifs and buts :)

9. be pretty as you can be

-- take time to go to salons, get your hair done or eyebrows... just don't overdo it. it doesn't mean you have to be vain or narcissist, it's caring for yourself. :) 

personal beauty has been my quest since i was little. my family used to tease me that i looked like a duck ergo an ugly duckling. i was white as pale, thin and bony with huge lips, flat nose with no eyelids because of my asian chinky eyes. until i grew in my high school years literally and figuratively. i became way chubby as in fat but i didn't bother because i had always been confident. i think i was cute anyway. while my then friends were having boyfriends and having adventures, i didn't care at all. i just became conscious when i was already in college. grew my hair long, went to gym, went on dieting and my body coordinated by having curves and my face developed as well and alas, ugly duckling no more. i'm not glorifying myself because i've always believe that beauty is subjective and my point here is... beauty is something you work for and look after. 

dove real beauty campaign - evolution

i was so awed when i first saw this two years ago and still am :)

there are days when women feel they are very pretty and very ugly. it's not insecurity from the models on the magazines who are made up by beauty experts or the surgically enhanced ones, it's just normal. i have no judgement for people who go to cosmetic clinics, if it boosts their confidence then why not? and the fact that they can pay! heck if i had the money i'd definitely go to one. 

a year ago, i totally forgot to take care of myself. i ate junk food whenever i was stressed which was most of time. i partied and not get enough sleep to forget about my grievances and so i can to let loose. i had a lot of excuses to exercise. it came to a point that my good friends honestly told me to keep off the weight and bad frenemies who talk behind my back gossip on me getting fat. 

basically, i neglected my well-being. it only sinked in when i saw a post-christmas picture of me tagged by a friend at facebook and hell shocked i was. so i told myself, i need to act fast. and now, i'm working on it although it's really a sacrifice and meant to change my lifestyle. but boy, i sure am glad i did made the choice. 

nail art

i remember my art appreciation professor asked us in one of her lectures, what is the difference of an art and an artist? it is always subjective. for me, it's art because it has design, color combination and can caught someone's eyes. ancient people have blotted ink on their skins to show manhood or what we call tattoos. women love painting their nails until nail art became commercially available. 

but what really caught my attention to this person who has "art" on the nails is, wait for it... a taxi driver. with a flower icon on all of his nails. i never thought he was a she until after. when i saw this driver with hands on the wheels with a dainty nails, it made a smile on my face.  

3d acrylic design

i go to salons to have one. what i usually do is the printed nail art where you place your hand to a nail printer (from cambodia) and voila, instant art! it's fast and less cheaper but a side of the nail can sometimes not be scanned so it leaves a space. just like when you are printing a paper. for an intricate art, it's better to have it done by a trained person. 

with swarovski crystals

it's so pretty... i'm in love!

i saw in the news just a month ago that in the middle east they are in need of 1,000 nail technicians since arab women are fully clothed only showing their eyes and hands. that's why my old threading lady is now there because arab women are addicted to eyebrow threading. since that's the part of their face that can be shown and attract men. 

it can be from the most simple streak to complex themed ones...

japanese inspired

garden theme

musician theme

orchid theme

but this one is overly decorated i guess for competition purposes. i have to get my nails done soon! :)

act one

i love the movies. but before the technology was built for filmmaking, the artists can just do plays. after i took communication arts, i realized that it was really right for me. it honed my artistic knowledge and skills from writing, shooting, acting, editing, etc. which we all do in my course. i've done films, plays, documentaries and even broadcasted myself in radio and tv in the academe. i apply all the things that i've learned from school. it's a lifestyle. 

the other day, i anticipated the oscar awards as i myself is marathoning the films casted this year. "the musical is back!" shouted by the debonaire host of the recent awards, hugh jackman. it's my first time to see him sing and dance, and boy he was good!!! 

hugh's opening act commending the nominated films

he got a standing ovation. bravo! 

honoring the musicals in movies in this segment 

i know that his roots is in the theater so i searched for him in youtube. apparently, he had a performance in the tony awards.

the boy from oz perfomarce

he's so gay here! hehe

nice one 

i have my fair share of doing the musicals! i portrayed as ursula in little mermaid the musical for my theater class's final exam. (yes that's how we do our finals, perform and deliver. :D) i changed my version of ursula as the seductive and pretty villain. hahahaha :P i got an A score and it was so fun to do! :) 

my favorite musical is moulin rouge. all the elements are there. 

the break up song of christian and satine

i still feel like crying every time i watch this *sniff*

after the success of the movie, chanel no. 5 came up with a 2 minuter commercial ala-moulin rouge. it was reported that nicole didn't like to do it and she did it in the end only because baz directed the material.

nicole kidman with the hot guy named rodrigo santoro

i adore baz lurhmann! the man is a genius. the same director of romeo and juliet starring leo di caprio and claire danes whose dialogues are the poetry of shakespeare set in a more present time. who directed also the oscar performance, "the musical is back."

let's play spot the difference. haha check out this local tvc patterned from chanel no. 5 tvc. tsk tsk...

local superstar judy ann santos for fitrum

does it ring a bell? hehehe

local host/actress/ex-president's daughter kris aquino for casino femme alcohol

this is sooo obviously second-rate trying hard copycat..

another musical i love.....

the cell block tango in chicago

the women explaining how they got into jail. winner!

but the most fun of all....

mamma mia!!! the winner takes it all clip

meryl streep is really the best actress and it's a feel good movie

did i mention i love the musicals? :)

girl power

as a little girl, i have always been fascinated with the hot chicks kicking ass. they scream women empowerment and as a female viewer it feels good. growing up i value the rights of and for the women. and i'm glad that today it is somewhat evident. so for my viewing leisure, i loved those action-packed female characters in tv and the movies.

first was the ever cute sailormoon/princess serenity who fights for love and justice.. ;)

the moon crystal power

then came the warrior princess....

xena  (ang bruskong prinsesa hahaha)

me and my dad were followers every week!

then portrayed by jennifer garner...

as sydney bristow in alias

the spy agent chick who trots around the globe and disguises each mission

and yes she can speak any kind of language

as elektra in daredevil and elektra

then found her a daredevil husband named ben affleck 

the iconic wild-child turned humanitarian angelina jolie...

 as lara croft in tomb raider 1 & 2 

rumors say she's not going to do the next one since she's a mother now

 as jane in mr & mrs. smith

that got brad pitt smitten :D

as fox in wanted

still looking glamorous in this frame

her best line: "shoot the target."

another fabulous actress who do villain and action flicks really well, uma thurman...

as the seductive poison ivy in batman and robin

as an assassin called 'the bride' in kill bill volumes 1 & 2

as g-girl in my super ex-girlfriend

she'll use her powers when she gets mad 

my favorite british heroine, kate beckinsale...

as selene in underworld series

and my favorite fight scene of all time...

princess nefertiri and anck su namun in the mummy returns

it's the ancient cat fight! haha

all these characters have masculine side because they are strong and powerful but still in touch with their femininity needing a man to protect them. aww. *sniff* haha