Amasey something too...

I wasn't gonna talk about this "amalayer" overnight sensation, but I was surprised when I saw the video still trending on  Youtube homepage (Philippines), and, well, something inside me fired up. I felt I needed to say something, and where opinions are called, opinions I'll give. So here it is, my two cents worth.

First of all, in case you didn't know. This Amalayer trend is about this incident at LRT station, a girl shouting at lady security guard, for whatever reason, she was crying "I'm a liar? You're telling me I'm a liar" with an effort to mimic an American accent, hence the netizens labeled the video "amalayer". Here's the whole story. 

Okay, so she was rude. Ethics tells us that no matter how bad the situation is, there's no excuse for being rude (oh and I learned that on Hollywood Squares, so you can't tell me otherwise, no exemption here folks). So the Lady guard did her job in an unpleasant way, that's no excuse for being rude, especially in public. If you did that to a waitress in a restaurant, you better have second thoughts in taking the meal served in your table. You see, there's always a way rudeness can get back at you. Unfortunately for this girl, it was a prying guy who caught half of the incident on tape and uploaded it on youtube, and the rest, as much as I hate to use a cliche, is history.

So that's now how to handle the situation, we get it. But is it necessary to make a meme out of it? Condemn the act, not the person. Enough bashing. In many ways I feel bad for this girl because unlike Tito Sotto and Charlie Sheen, she does not have publicists and lawyers to help her fix things. 

Now, here's an interesting thing I learned, this amalayer girl whose real name is Paula, auditioned for a VJ post. Then this Gregory guy who caught the incident on tape is an aspiring singer. Two aspiring celebrities, in an unexpected turn of events made their way to fame. I smell conspiracy here, hmmm. Take in mind that this is not yet a fact, I didn't do further research here, if the information I mentioned are not true, then let's just disregard this 3rd argument, I'm not making any point, I just love conspiracy theories hehehe.

Lastly, I wanna end this post with something positive. In an age where everything could be subjected to public scrutiny, thanks to the technology (and thanks for warning us George Orwell), wouldn't it be nice to shift the focus into something that would make us all smile? I saw this Coca Cola commercial the other day in my Facebook feeds. Though I strongly discourage everyone from drinking Coke or any carbonated drinks (BAD FOR THE HEALTH OK?), I wish we could all embrace the idea that there are so many heartwarming stuff all over the world that we can catch on tape too.

Damn, Coca Cola make the best commercials, don't they? :)

Celebrating the 2nd Hane Festival of Tanay

Whenever I have the chance, I always tell how proud I am to be coming from a town rich of history and culture, and we don't just settle with existing traditions, we also create new ones. Last year, the municipality of Tanay initiated Hane Festival to celebrate the town's 405th founding anniversary. I was a little busy to attend or participate in any activities, which I truly regret, but I'm glad I was able to make time to check out the festivities this year.

The term hane by the way, is a confirmatory expression, synonymous to okay or right,  unique to Tanay. Like if you'd say, "let's go to the church together, okay?" we'd say "let's got to the church together, hane? "(sabay tayo magsimba, hane?). Or if you'd say, "you got the money I sent, right?" we'd say "you got the money I sent, hane?" (nakuka mo pinadala kong pera, hane?). 

So the festival spawned four days of fun-filled activities which started November and ended on November 12. Activities include fun runs, art exhibits, rock balancing exhibits, float parade, pageant contest, culinary contest, street dancing competition and a lot more. I was able to see the float/people parade and Agri/trade fair, on a fine Sunday morning.

The parade was participated by different government and non-government organizations and private businesses in the town. It was an eye-opener, some of the organizations I saw, I didn't know they exist here. There were also street dancers, military people and religious groups.

Some of the floats need some works, but that's okay, this tradition is only on its second year, give it more time and things will improve and get more sophisticated. It's just like the state of Cosplay when it was just starting to make a scene. The festival will definitely further develop the creativity of Tanayans.

I was amazed to see an armored vehicle. I never thought I'd ever see one in person, not that I want to. In fact the presence of the soldiers gave the event a chilly ambiance. At least that's how I felt when they passed our spot. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying I don't like them. I have high respect for people who sacrificed so much to protect their country.  I dunno, maybe it was the guns, their very serious demeanor and their association to the war. But yeah, in many ways, I really salute them.

After the parade,  my mom and I checked the Agri/trade Fair. It's a small bazaar featuring local products. Nothing really out of the ordinary here, just some furnittures, handicrafts, souvenirs, delicacies, organic vegetables and fruits. It was cool.

I was delighted to see eco-friendly products, handicrafts made from recycled papers and Water Lilies. The latter is much closer to home, literally because our place is hundreds of meters away from Laguna de Bay, and there are heaps of Water Lies back there. I actually saw a feature about it on TV before, but it was more fun to be able to see them in person my mom bought a pair of slippers and some head bands.

We also bought some organic vegetables, honey, fresh cow's milk and a sack of rice. Oh and a slice of halaya (purple yam) which was really good. I love the feeling of being able to support local producers like this. I wish I could encourage more people, not only from Tanay but all over the country and even the world to consume local products as much as possible. I mean, it's good for our health, good for the planet, and good for the economy. Think about it hane?

I definitely enjoyed my experience at the festival. It's such a shame that I didn't get to check out other activities, but I will definitely time for it next year.

Lest we forget...

Finally a big break! Well, it’s not really big, but a one day  vacation leave next to weekend is a bliss and I should use this gift of time to update. Yeah! The truth is, a lot have happened since the last time I posted, but I don’t really have the energy to tell all of them. There were really dark days but I've moved on, we've all moved on and now it’s time to enjoy and celebrate life again.

But today, I want to talk about something timely. We just celebrated All Saints day (Nov.1) and All Souls day (Nov.2). For non-Christians out there, these are day we pay homage to the faithful departed. All Saints day is for the purified souls who are now in heaven. All Souls Day is exclusively for the souls who are in Purgatory, spending time to cleanse and purify themselves, perhaps atoning for the sins they've committed when they were still living. Hell is out of the picture here, it’s a place for pure evil. Here in the Philippines, Catholics observe a joint celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day in November 1 by going to the cemetery, bringing in flowers, lightning a candle and offering prayers. For me (and perhaps some), it has also become a subtle excuse for families to get together.

Praying for the dead is a moral obligation of Christians. One way to help the souls in Purgatory purify is through prayers. It’s an obligation that I am more than willing to commit because it’s my way of telling to the dead loved ones that I have not forgotten them. I will never forget. I think that it’s very important for us who are still here to keep on remembering. I believe in life after death and I will be very sad if I would see the people I've loved forget about me. So I’d like to take this moment to think about those I love who have crossed  over to the next life, specially my grandparents. Nanay, Tatay, I dearly miss you…

Eternal rest grant unto them, o Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.