Miss Universe: Four Straight Years in the Top 5 for Filipinas

This is the fourth straight year that a Filipina landed in the top 5 of the Miss Universe competition.  Venus Raj started the streak, then Shamcey Supsup followed it up, then Janine Tugonon almost won the crown.  This year, Ariella Arida continued the winning streak.  Well, hopefully one Filipina beauty will win the crown for us for the third time. It's been decades since we last won.  For now, let's just enjoy our 4-peat in the top 5!

Raving Over Ishmael Bernal's Salawahan!

I didn't know that Ishmael Bernal who directed Himala can do a full-on comedy!  This movie is probably one of the wittiest and funniest local movies I've ever seen! When you compare this to the other local comedies you see now, para tuloy silang basura lahat!  I just love Rita Gomez!  I was practically laughing at most of her lines! And seeing Jay Ilagan, Rio Locsin, Sandy Andolong and Mat Ranillo III in a comedy, wow, I never thought they could do comedy!!  Sayang talaga wala eto sa DVD.  I want to watch it again!  Somebody should transcribe this movie! Andame talagang witty lines!! Scene 1 palang tatawa ka na!  And Rene Requiestas is here!!

The spirits of UP Diliman

OMG! There are so many tales of ghosts sa College of Eduk sa UP. I remember a friend tell me that the piano in the theater suddenly plays daw when they have rehearsals there at night. She tells us this after we practiced our dance inside the theater from 7-9PM and the piano was in plain sight!! Gaga talaga! Umuwi na lang tuloy kami lahat dahil sa takot!! Pauwi na rin kasi ang mga masteral students so we didn't want to stay in the college after everyone was gone!! Tapos, that story about that Ikot jeep has several variations. The one told to me is similar to the one in this article, yun lang, in the version told to me, puno daw ang jeep ng mga 'ghosts' which shocked the driver, and the girl riding it was the only human, kaya niligaw muna ng driver ang mga multo!! Creepy!!!

The spirits of UP Diliman

Pinoy Hoops: A Joy to Watch

I am probably one of the few Filipinos who doesn't give a s**t about basketball, but today, I saw a documentary in National Geographic, entitled Pinoy Hoops which is hosted by this American named Rafe Bartholomew (OMG, he can speak Tagalog!!!) and it's probably one of the best docus I have ever seen in my whole life since it really drew me into a subject I have absolutely no interest in!!! It always fascinates me as to how a foreigner looks into the Pinoy culture as an outsider and Bartholomew has very incisive and interesting comments about the Pinoy's love for basketball, despite our lack of height. I strongly recommend that you watch this series in National Geographic when you have the time, especially that most of you guys love basketball so much.  

Basketball love

Helping Bohol Get On Its Feet Again

I feel a bit guilty because I haven't as yet given any donation for Bohol.  That's why when I read the newspaper today, I was very happy to know that the SVD brothers (I went to an SVD-run school when I was in high school) are still at it, helping the Boholanos get back on their feet.

Anyway, if you would like to make a donation, you can do so by depositing in this account -

SVD Southern Province Inc.
BPI Cebu Mango Branch
Acct# 1025-6401-32