This book made me cry

"And why not? Why don't you just think about yourself, instead? Why would you sacrifice yourself for a country that doesn't even care about you when you can just walk away?"

 Two weeks ago, I went to  National Bookstore branch to buy BO's latest book (yeah, I haven't read that one yet). But instead, I saw this one and bought it.

And I am glad.

It's really rare for me to come across books that are so beautifully written, like this one.

Yes, the way Ms. Scy Sze had written it may sound like it is a novel from the Creative Corner of candymag.com. But the way she described every emotion Rizal and Valentina felt will either bring you bliss or break your heart. And she took me into a journey to the Calamba and Dapitan of the past, as well as the present Ateneo.

Just how did Ms. Sze conceived the plot of this book? It is so beautiful and well-researched that I actually want it to be a true story. Haha! Anyway, this book may be able to change one's view of our National Hero. Like me, I've always wondered why in the world did Rizal want to learn 20+ different languages? Why did he become the National playboy? Why did he love Ateneo more than UST? If only this novel is a true story, it would have been a plausible explanation to my why's.

I wish this book could be turned into a movie. (Knock, knock, Star Cinema? Regal Films? Indie prods?)


P.S. Rizal's photo at the back part of the book was... uuugh! WHY WASN'T I BORN IN THE 1860's??? He's fricking hoooot!!!

20 Reasons Why I Dislike Filipinos' Comments

So last night, the brotha! and I were watching Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho on GMA7. There was a segment featuring the controversial video "20 Reasons Why I Dislike the Philippines". Since (I suppose) my brother hasn't been able to watch it, he immediately logged in to Youtube and searched the video.

He wasn't even half a minute into the video when he shared it on Facebook and commented, "sobra naman 2..."

And I was like, SERIOIUSLY???





It's the problem with us Filipinos, eh? We react too much at something negative said to our country. We are just too defensive. But, have we done anything yet to improve our country even just a little?

If you were among the Filipinos who would throw your candy wrappers or bus tickets anywhere, you don't have the right to react to this video. (And yes, my brother is among this kind of Filipinos.)

If you were among the Filipino men who would pee anywhere you wanna pee, you don't have the right to react to this video. (And yes, my brother is among this kind.)

It's a fucking eye opener for us, fellow countrymen. Do not be too shallow.

P.S. I have to give kudos to the Cebu City mayor (was it Cebu?) for not making the Jimmy guy a persona non grata in their city. He's right, their local government should use this video as a driving force to making their city beautiful.

And oh, just read this for 20 times, just so to complete the 20 Reasons. Hehehe.

The Cagayan Getaway

Day 6: The Departure

Pretty much the same as our trip to Cagayan. Got lost in the way again(I told you everyone in our family has no sense of direction). This time though, we traveled with my aunt and nieces and with the pasalubong.

Duck meat... Napurga ako diyan.

Star apples!

Madre de Cacao

Brotha with the aunt and the niece-s (the other niece was at the back---see her hands up?).

My dad the driver

Love the sunset

Wuzz dizz?

Good girls gone bad... the nieces when they awoke from a night's sleep while on the road.

We passed by Bocaue to purchase some fireworks for the New Year.

Home at last.

So there...

The Cagayan Getaway

Days 3-5: The Stay

Food! Glorious food!

Yeah, we never ran out of something to eat when we were in Battung. We go to one house, they offer food. We go to another, they offer food. We go the another, again, they offer food. AND coffee. Yes, coffee. It's like their staple drink there. We eat breakfast, there's coffee. We eat morning snack, there's coffee. We eat lunch, there's coffee. We eat afternoon snack, there's coffee. We eat supper, there's coffee (but of course, that's a bit exaggerated). They don't make kapeng barako anymore, though, unlike when I was younger. Now they settle for instant coffee.



The Next Generation

Oh, there were soooo many kids there. I actually found it hard to have an alone time 'cause these kids kept on bugging me.

Erika

Chloe, the youngest of the Cannu clan.

JC and Ian

Sons of my cousin. I don't know their names...

Bromance: Ian x JC???

Xyril and Rema

My brotha and the "3 Ilocanos"

Kulitan with the 3 and the camera

Reymar with Mojacko

The Ariel 3D Glasses!!! Hah...

Kids in the neighborhood

This kid's dad passed away a week before Christmas. His dad's body came from Manila to Battung on the 24th. He's very aware of what happened to his dad. When we asked him, "Is your dad sleeping?" he answered "No. He's dead." I feel so sad for this kid...

Flora and Fauna

It's like "Old McDonald had a farm, e i e i o..."

Every meal, my aunt ties this cat. Para daw hindi mangulit sa lamesa. Maingay naman.

These ducks kept on bugging the person who washes the dishes. Haha.

Would a farm be complete without a carabao?

Mother hen and her chicks under her...

They looove orchids. I don't think I saw a single house without orchids there.

There you go...

Next up: The Departure.

Wanna go for a ride?

The Cagayan Getaway

Day 2: First Day in Tuao

My mom's hometown: Tuao, Cagayan.

It's a small town about 30 minutes away from Tuguegarao, the capital city of Cagayan. And our destination in Tuao: Battung, a barangay on the corner of Tuao. Battung actually seem like sooo isolated when you're there. We had to pass thru the broken bridge folks call the "Ferry" first and enjoy a 20-minute kuliglig ride before reaching it. And we found out that there were no FM radio stations whose frequency can reach there. And there were only two TV stations: ABS-CBN and GMA. And cellphone signal is so weak we had to go outside the house to pick it up. And it was sooo cold in there that I had a feeling that winter had finally fell in the Philippines, minus the snow, of course (and just my luck, I didn't bring any jacket or even long-sleeved shirts and long pants because it was hot in Bulacan when we left; I thought weather would be the same in Cagayan).


Anyway, enough of the non-sense (and probably grammatically-challenged) talk. PHOTOSPAM!!!

This is Ferry. The bridge was broken and folks there just use rocks for the bridge to be passable. This photo was taken by my brother on our third day in Cagayan. A Victory Liner bus almost got off the bridge "extension" and fell into the water. I wonder why the local government in there can't fix this bridge for good; they just settle for temporary solutions. This can be very irritating for travelers. Tsk.

Since the bridge was broken, we had to ride the banca to reach the other side of the Ferry.

Since we still had to wait for my uncle's kuliglig, we did some "photo shoots" in the Ferry.

My niece, Jam.

My brotha!

My cousin-in-law, Ate Glori.

With my cousin, Ate Meg, and niece, Jaan.

  When long wait for the kuliglig was over...

Izz the kuliglig! Ready for the ride?

Uncle Rey, the kuliglig driver.

I will always be amazed with this view of the province: coconut trees standing high in looong lines on the far ends of the fields. Wow!

Calesas!

We got in my uncle's house (where we stayed in) at around 9 am, Dec. 23. So that means, we spent 24 hours on the road! Wtf! Anyway, this is the house:

The front 'lawn.'

The restroom/kitchen/laundry area. The toilet's not here, though. It's at the back of the house, just a small hole on the lot covered by sacks.

We didn't rest as soon as we got in the house, though. We went straight to the river after changing our clothes.

My nephews, and my cousins (the tallest one and the one wearing pink) led the way to the river.

You'll mistake the river for a beach because of the coconut trees.

They played agawan buko while I took the photos.

Then the kids had the time of their lives...

So that was our first day. Truly tiring. I went straight to bed when we got back to my uncle's place.

So there...

Next up! How we spent the holiday.