california love

driving to lemoore for christmas

christmas and 2nd anniversary

golden gate bridge

cleaning out my closet

i'm moving out of my apartment of three years. how i'll manage to do that, i still don't know, but to convince myself that i was making a little progress, i started sorting my stuff last night.

needless to say, i was overwhelmed by the junk i accumulated as a struggling young urban professional. i found my old curriculum vitae that says i was a journalism graduate with no work experience. 1x1 photos of my much younger-looking self. bank statements and pay slips, which didn't seem to have much activity all throughout the years.

i found worn out plane tickets from traveling to the visayas and mindanao for sorties. maps and brochures from trips abroad. exorbitant cellphone bills. branding documents for my boss during the campaign. old love letters (yup yup yup :D )...and my dad's death certificate. i didn't even know it was with me--it was an original document. i guess my brother, who used to share the apartment with me, left the certificate when he moved out of the house. the document carries my dad's cause of death, and at the bottom of the page, my eldest brother's scrawled signature. i can imagine how hard it must have been to put his name there.

when i finished, i had a huge shopping bag filled with mementos that i can't take with me anymore. i'm starting with a clean slate, as i should. :)

where have all the boxeadores gone?

and so it happened again. another great mexican fighter forced into retirement by pacman.

i was rooting for de la hoya, not only because of the four-inch height advantage but because of my longtime fascination with mexican fighters which started even before manny pacquiao hit the bigtime.

growing up with a dad who loved boxing and two brothers, some of my fondest childhood memories were earmarked by great boxing fights. and to me, boxing equals all these tough mexican sluggers. so forgive my lack of team spirit.

as for de la hoya, i can only remember thinking one thing when i first saw him fight: what's someone this good-looking doing inside the boxing ring? from his loss against felix trinidad to his dramatic unification bout with rival fernando vargas, the golden boy really brought the game of boxing closer to so many people.
but as de la hoya himself admitted, he no longer has it. i take consolation in the fact that it's somebody carrying our flag who ended this legend's career.

inanity

after staying at my place for three days, my doctor friend gay and i travelled back to bataan for the weekend. as the bus stopped in front of an elementary school in our hometown, we saw practically every kid running back and forth--to go home, to play, to get into a building.

me: bakit kaya napakanormal sa lahat ng bata na tumakbo?

doc gay: oo nga no. ang matanda, kahit nagmamadali, unless sobrang importante, di pa rin tumatakbo...parang nakakahiya.

me: imagine kung pati matatanda tumatakbo...

we looked at each other and pondered some more.

behind the scenes

I was suddenly asked to sit in a meeting last week...and I don't know if I should be divulging these details but along with the two members of our legislative unit, I found myself in the same room as former Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and the Nation's Fiscalizer, former senator Jovito Salonga. It was a party of nine, and I was so starstruck just to be in that exclusive gathering, breathing the same air as two of the country's most outstanding public servants.

Anyway, here's the column of CJ Panganiban, which appeared in the Inquirer. This is basically what the meeting was about.

With Due Respect
Responsibility for selecting justices


By Artemio V. Panganiban
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:33:00 10/12/2008
I AM glad that the members of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) are preparing to face the challenge of nominating only the best and the brightest to the seven Supreme Court vacancies to be created by the retirement of an equal number of justices in 2009. Never in the normal history of the Court has almost one-half of its membership changed within just one year. (I say “normal” to exclude extraordinary events like the judicial cleansing undertaken by the Aquino revolutionary government in 1986.)

Scrutinizing the JBC. The Constitution provides that members of the Supreme Court (and the entire judiciary) shall be appointed by the president from a list of at least three individuals nominated by the JBC for every vacancy. The president’s power to appoint justices is severely limited; the field of choice is restricted only to those nominated by the council. Having been pre-screened by the JBC, judicial appointments are no longer passed upon by the Commission on Appointments.

Clearly then, the primary responsibility for choosing worthy justices falls squarely on the JBC. If the council nominates only the most qualified as it should, and expunges politics and favoritism from its selection, then every appointment made by the president would be unquestionable. However, even if just one undeserving candidate is smuggled into the list, the whole selection process tumbles because the president could then appoint that unworthy one. For this reason, the JBC’s process of searching for, screening and selecting (I call them the “three ‘s’ functions”) nominees cannot afford a single mistake.

Yes, the task of the JBC is not easy. The Constitution specifies three quantifiable requirements for Supreme Court members: natural-born citizen, at least 40 years of age, and practice of law or judgeship in a lower court for at least 15 years. More significantly, the Charter requires all jurists to possess four non-quantifiable qualities: “proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.” Of these, I believe the most important are independence and integrity. How to find these most elusive but most essential qualities is the JBC’s ultimate task.

The selection process for the first vacancy that will occur when Justice Ruben T. Reyes retires on Jan. 2, 2009 has already begun. The JBC set tomorrow, Oct. 13, as the deadline for the filing of applications. This early deadline is not generally known. I think it should be extended.

Monitoring the JBC. Relevantly, the initiative of Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, the Senate’s representative in the JBC, to convene the “Bantay Korte Suprema” is laudable. He is inviting the legal community, academe, civil society and business groups to organize themselves and participate actively in the selection process and to make sure that the public understands it.

The Pangilinan initiative dovetails with an existing method of checking the background of candidates. Authored by Dean Amado L. Dimayuga, JBC member representing the academe, the system was derived from the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission, the JBC’s equivalent in the state of California.

Under this method, the applicant is required to fill up a personal data questionnaire that asks for a list of courts in which he or she has appeared as counsel during the last two years as well as the names of the prosecutors, private attorneys, court personnel and other references in the legal community. If the applicant is an incumbent judge, he or she must list colleagues in the judiciary. Then, survey forms are sent to randomly picked references. From the responses (at least 20 must be received), the JBC makes an evaluation of the candidate. This system has been piloted and has produced some good results.

Judging the JBC. Also praiseworthy is the proposal of J. Conrado P. Castro, JBC member representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, that the votes cast by JBC members be recorded and made public. At present, the voting for Supreme Court nominees is done by secret ballot. Hence, there is no way of knowing who voted for whom.

However, the Castro proposal will make the process more transparent and the JBC members more accountable for their actions. When magistrates misbehave and are sanctioned, the natural question is: who were responsible for the appointment of the errant jurist? At present, there is no way to divine who among the eight JBC members voted for the penalized magistrate. The Castro plan will pinpoint responsibility for bad choices.

The votes of individual justices in all Supreme Court decisions, including the most controversial, are made known. Thus, I see no reason why the votes of JBC members should be hidden from similar scrutiny. Transparency translates to accountability that in turn breeds public confidence in our institutions and officials.

Obviously, the JBC is expected to nominate only the best and the brightest from among the most eminent, not from those who barely qualify. To select the finest for the seven vacancies is a monumental task. The JBC members will be praised or condemned by the quality of all their choices. Will they pass the test?

Aside from Pangilinan, Dimayuga and Castro, the other JBC members are Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno (chair), Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Rep. Matias Defensor Jr., retired Supreme Court Justice Regino Hermosisima Jr., and retired Court of Appeals Justice Aurora S. Lagman.

the funniest guys on this imaginary earth

you gotta see this! flight of the conchords...

ISSUES (Think About It)


Jenny


Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous

b.o.r.e.d.

after three weeks of isolation in the province, i'm dying to get my city life back. but no go, says the chief. my doctor said i'm not contagious anymore, but so as not to take chances, my boss advised me to work from the house for another week. i need to grab more junk food.

is she amazing or what?

kt tunstall...black horse and a cherry tree

a follow up on kt's stunning guitar

wala akong masabi. $3000-$4000 lang naman...sweet!


MODEL NAME G7593, White FalconTM I
MODEL NUMBER 240-1406-(805)
SERIES Professional Collection
COLORS (805) White
CATEGORY Hollow Body Guitars
BODY STYLE Single Cutaway
SCALE LENGTH 25.5" (648mm)
TOP Arched Laminated Maple
BRACING N/A
BACK AND SIDES Laminated Maple Body, 17" Wide, 2.75" Deep
NECK 3-Piece Maple
PICKUPS 2 High Sensitive Filter'TronTM Pickups
PICKUP SWITCHING 3-Position Toggle:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups
Position 3. Neck Pickup
CONTROLS Volume 1. (Neck Pickup),
Volume 2. (Bridge Pickup),
Master Volume,
3-Position Toggle Master Tone Switch:
Position 1. Medium Level, High Frequency Roll Off
Position 2. Switch Out of the Circuit, Pickup is Wide Open (That Great Gretsch Sound!)
Position 3. Slight Level, High Frequency Roll Off
WIDTH AT NUT 1-11/16" (43mm)
FRETBOARD Ebony, 12" Radius (305mm)
BRIDGE Ebony-Based Adjusto-MaticTM Bridge
TAILPIECE Gretsch Bigsby¨ B6GW Vibrato Tailpiece with Wire Handle
HARDWARE Gold-Plated
FINISH Gloss Urethane
CASE Includes G6242L Deluxe Hardshell Case, US MSRP $220.00
NO. OF FRETS 22
MACHINE HEADS Grover¨ ImperialTM Gold-Plated Die-cast Tuners
UNIQUE FEATURES V-Shaped Falcon Headstock,
Block Pearloid Inlay Position Markers,
Gold-Sparkle Fingerboard and Headstock Bindings,
Gold-Sparkle Bound F-Holes,
Multiple Gold-Sparkle Body Bindings,
Gold-Sparkle Inlaid Gretsch Logo on Headstock,
Gold Plexi Pickguard with Falcon Detail,
Knurled Strap Retainer Knobs,
Adjustable Truss

suddenly i see a.k.a. me getting addicted to posting videos

kt tunstall singing the song i love to play in the morning while getting ready to face the world. check out her guitar, i wouldn't mind getting something like it for christmas! :D

tell him (colbie caillat)

one of my favorite songs of all time. not as good as lauryn hill's version, pero pwede na rin :)

heart of the matter (india arie)

a really beautiful cover by a really talented artist

bangkok dangerous

just an amusing thing.

my thai friend somphon, bade and i were driving in the streets of bangkok from a night out late last year when we ran into a detour. somphon opened the window to ask a bystander what was happening, and when he turned to us dear foreigners to explain what was causing the delay, he said that a hollywood film was being shot right ahead of us.

"ask him who's the actor in the film," bade told somphon.

"arrgh," protested somphon, but he knew the most painless way out of it was to do as he was told.

"i swear if it's colin farrell, i'm getting out of this car," i told bade.

"nicolas cage," somphon reported.

and we drove happily ever after.

a few months later, it was somphon's turn to visit. while he, bade and i were killing time at mall of asia waiting for his flight back to thailand, we passed by the cinema to check out movie posters.

"hey look, somphon," bade said. "bangkok dangerous."

starring nicolas cage.

life's a bitch and then you...get chicken pox

this is, no doubt, the most horrendous feeling EVERRRR.

after years of eluding chicken pox, it finally caught up with me last weekend. now i wonder how all those classmates in gradeschool who disappeared one by one in class managed to nurse these itchy bumps.the discomfort is just too much, even for a grownup!

now i'm stuck at home.until i don't know when.can't even look at the mirror.bet my work's piling up as i type this. people around me can't stand my whining anymore.and everyone's worried the kids might get infected too. geez. there is only one person i know who will be happy about this misfortune: my dermatologist.

Lucky

woke up this morning to his call. he just came out of a 24-hour duty on, ironically, Labor Day...i competely understood why he sounded so down and tired. then he just poured his heart out, and we were both reminded why this is worth all the waiting, the worrying and the crying.

Lucky
by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat

Do you hear me,
I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying

Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair

though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I'm lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooooh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

dao-ed and all kung fu-ey

I heard it was a great movie, but i never got the chance to see it...until my 7-year old nephew Gelo and my 6-yr old niece Chay pounced on my bed Sunday morning with a DVD copy of Kung Fu Panda. We had breakfast in bed while watching all the action--I had to cover their mouths to keep them from spilling what's gonna happen next.

I must be quite depressed the past weeks, or maybe I really am just as weird as my friends say, but this movie just enlightened me.haha. And suddenly, I wanted to make things right.

Some unforgettable lines...

Mr. Ping (sharing the secret ingredient to his Secret Ingredient Soup): The secret ingredient is ... nothing!
Po: Huh?
Mr. Ping: You heard me. Nothing! There is no secret ingredient.
Po: Wait, wait ... it's just plain old noodle soup? You don't add some kind of special sauce or something?
Mr. Ping: Don't have to. To make something special you just have to believe it's special.
Po: There is no secret ingredient ...

Master Shifu: Master, I have bad news.
Master Oogway: Calm down Shifu, there is just news. There's no bad or good.

Townspeople to the Dragon Warrior: How can we repay you? Dragon Warrior: There is no charge for awesomeness. Or attractiveness.

And my favorite part of the movie...

Master Oogway (when Master Shifu says the villain Tai Lung has returned): That is bad news, if you do not believe that the Dragon Warrior can stop him.
Master Shifu: Panda ?! Master that panda is not the Dragon Warrior, he wasn't even meant to be here ! It was an accident !
Master Oogway: There are no accidents.
Master Shifu: Ahhh, yes I know, you'd said that already, twice.
Master Oogway: Well, that was no accident either.
Master Shifu: Thrice.
Master Oogway: My dear friend, that panda will never fulfill his destiny nor you yours, until you let go of the illusion of control.
Master Shifu: Illusion ?
Master Oogway: Yes, look at this tree Shifu. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me, or make it bear fruits before it's time.
Master Shifu: But there are things we can control. I can control when the fruits will fall. And I can control where to plant the seed. That is no illusion Master.
Master Oogway: Ahhh yes, but no matter what you do, that seed it will grow into a peach tree, you may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Shifu: But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung !
Master Oogway: Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it.
Master Shifu: But how ! How !? I need your help Master!
Master Oogway: No, you just need to believe. Promise me Shifu, promise me you will believe.

And so I'm now too Dao-ed for my own good. I'm letting go of the illusion of control and I'll just believe, because there is no secret ingredient...you just have to believe something is special. Skadoosh!

JOB OPENING IN THE OFFICE OF SENATE MAJORITY LEADER KIKO PANGILINAN

ok.so i said this blog is personal, no work-related stuff. but for my own personal benefit i need a junior writer who'll share with me the joys of writing fiesta messages and speeches. haha. so...i'm reposting this here. bear with me.

Good day! The Office of Senate Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan is urgently looking for a new Political Communications Officer, preferably a fresh graduate of a communications course. We are looking for someone who's ready to learn from others; a team player who is personable & articulate in Filipino (other dialects preferred :D ) Must be passionate about the development of our country and can write & defend his or her views.

Please send your resumes to ina.claravall@gmail.com and to colorbars7@gmail.com before August 24, 2008. Thanks. Do feel free to forward to your networks.

i'm loving...

A trip to the supermarket with Ditas (my so-called stepmom/officemate/shrink/driver/lunch date) got me acquainted with two really cheap but really great products. I'm loving...

1. Olay Daily Purifying Body Wash with Sea Salts and Microbeads. Really fresh, not-so-strong, not-your-usual-sweet scent. The beads are there but they're not harsh at all, AND you feel moisturized but not in a Dove-sticky-moisturized kind of way. Had to text Bade, who's with P&G just to rave.

2. L'oreal Elseve Nutri-gloss serum. Since having my hair colored and straightened again last June, no amount of hot oil treatment made my hair shine. This product did the trick. And sooo cheap too. I've been computing the money I'm saving from not going to the salon. :)

My Happy Ending

I fidgeted in my seat as I sipped into my cup of cappuccino. I'm not a coffee drinker, but what the heck. If coffee really triggered the nerves, I wouldn't have known the difference. My anxiety was slaughtering my cool so bad.

My eyes scanned the coffee shop. Thank god for Mocha Blends on a Sunday night. I honestly didn't know how things could turn out, and with only a few tables filled and no one familiar in sight, I should be safe from embarrassment regardless of how this meeting would end.

I checked my e-mail from my phone to kill some time, and a few minutes later, I spotted him outside the coffee shop. I squinted to see him dial a number on his phone. Right on cue, my phone rang as he caught a glimpse of me from where I was sitting. He walked into Mocha Blends as I tried to remember what I was there for.

I just need to know what happened, so I can forgive and forget.

Then that familiar stride. That familiar look. That familiar, timid face. Almost five months of not seeing each other, of hurt and confusion, and there he was right in front of me.

My question on my way to Mocha Blends: will it end up being a slap or a hug when I first see him? Either of the two scared me. When he entered, it was obvious he was calculating his move himself. After I looked at him for a moment, I motioned a quick hug, but he swept me in his arms into the tightest,longest embrace. He was trembling.

His back was on everybody else, so I had the honor of seeing the surprised expression on every customer's face. Public display of affection irks the Filipino psyche no end.

"I missed you," he whispered.

The sudden surge of emotion was replaced by awkwardness as we seated ourselves.

"So," he said.

"So," I answered back.

"How have you been?" he asked.

Now I've played this scene on my mind over and over before and I had a ready answer for his question. But he was faster.

"No forget that. I know I've caused you enough trouble, and I'm here to apologize for everything that happened," he said.

And as if to mock us, our song suddenly played on the background. I pretended to ignore the unexpected score, but recognition registered on his face as he continued.

"I know I said I wanted another chance over the phone, but thinking about the hurt I caused you, I don't know if I even deserve to ask that from you," he said.

I tried to lose the melody playing and his image in a brown shirt--my favorite color--and remembered the struggle to be okay on my own for five whole months. I remembered working so late everyday so I'd be too tired to think when I get home. I recalled making answers for myself to lessen the confusion. And I reminded myself just how plain painful it was to smile when I felt like crying each time.

"What happened?" I asked squarely.

As if to add up to the events unfolding, I spotted a van pulling over the parking lot. It was a very familiar van. Soon enough, my suspicion was justified: My officemates, four or five of them, got off the car. Now these people were the ones who suggested the venue for this meeting, and seeing them line up like little spies pretending they didn’t know me…I just couldn’t believe how slow I was.

I shook my head to shake off the silly image outside my window. Good thing his back’s on them. He didn’t seem to realize my little distraction.

“I tried to come home like I promised, but I wanted to surprise you that’s why I said I wasn’t. I booked for two airlines, whichever opens up. But then we started fighting, and you stopped taking my calls. I just got fed up, and I was letting things settle first. I thought it was just another one of our fights, but that we’d still get back together. But the days just turned to months. I did try to call you but you didn’t pick up. So I tried to move on, because I was mad too for us breaking up for no reason. But I can’t move on without you,” he said.

We looked at each other for a very long time, and I suddenly forgot all the hurt and all the doubts I harbored since we separated. I was thinking, whatever happens I was ready to start fresh and contented. I had no bad feelings anymore, and I felt lighter than I ever did in the recent past.

Nobody wanted to move. Clearly, everything has been said already, but neither wanted to start goodbye.

“No. Wait. Listen,” he said like he always did before. “Could we start over? Could you give me another chance? For the last time.”

Now I was trembling.

“If I don’t get back together with you, it’s gonna hurt. But if I do get back together with you, it’s gonna hurt too,” I said, more to myself than to him. And at this point, I just lost control already, I started to cry.

Then out of the blue, and I vividly remember how fast it happened, he reached for my side of the table to grasp my hand. He held it achingly that the strong feeling—of hurt? Yearning? Love?—was transported from him to me and back.

“I’m not even gonna promise you anything. But the past five months, I did nothing but think of what I could’ve done to make things right. And I know now, and it’s gonna be different, if only you’ll give me that chance,” he said looking at me straight in the eye.

So that’s my happy ending. But as they say, endings are beginnings too, and we really are starting another hard road. Being apart is not my concept of happily ever after, but as we always tell each other: “It’s part of the package.” I’m just grateful I’m taking this chance with the only guy who has ever captured my heart. :)

Girlfriends, Men and Dogs

I caught up with my college best friend, who shall now grace this blog as Bade (since she is quite a spectacular person and any untoward revelation made herein might cause nuisance to her perfection--if you know her true identity then you also know her well enough to keep your mouth shut) at Greenbelt 3 today. She was escaping the vestiges of the supertyphoon that left her city with no electricity for many days now.

Last time I saw her was sometime in February when we went to the UP Fair. The vixen lost some weight and was fabulous as ever. Trust her and I to not lay eyes on each other for months and feel like we're still living at the annex wing of Kalayaan Dormitory.

It's funny how we kept our friendship for six years when our personalities are poles apart. She's cool, calm, collected. I'm the perennial worrier. She doesn't give a hoot about what other people think; I was born a crowd-pleaser . She eats exotic food...when we were in Bangkok, she willingly ate whatever food was on her plate without asking what composed her meal. I can only take chicken, pork, beef, definitely no vegetables and fish, but I do love shrimp and crabs. We do agree on one thing though, but it is much too exclusive to reveal here...we were, for once, whispering when we concurred on this observation a few hours ago.

Our source of fascination varies from politics(today it was the death of Rep. Beltran) ,history (we conferred on the Boleyn sisters), international relations (the ASEAN)...but mostly the more important topics that would grace our discussions would be the choice of tissue paper("Bakit ganito brand nito...'Tisyu'?!!?Wahahahaha"), food("Bakit wala nang cream sauce itong meal na to?....Ay teka, nasa ilalim pala ng kanin!" or

"I specifically said lose the onions, this is onion, it's not cabbage, it tastes like onion too.") and of course, men and failed relationships ("If you think about it, mas okay na yung married before kasi may annulment naman...mahirap yung may anak kasi yun lumalaki, nakikita mo, di mo naman pwedeng patayin yung anak di ba?!?").

Speaking of men...I was also in Greenbelt last night and found this book, Everything I Know about Men, I Learned from my Dog by Clare Staples, with a foreword by Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell. I didn't get to buy it, so when I told Bade about thi s find, we traversed the narrow path to Powerbooks and searched again.

Found it, bought it, loved it. Now that's an irony, because I'm not especially fond of the male specie at this point, and neither am I fond of man's so-called best friend. Anyone who claims to know me must know my uncanny fear of the canine. Big or small, I turn cold and jump at the sight of a dog nearby.

In any case, the book is a joy to read. It's the kind you finish in an hour or less. Each page contains one paragraph of truth--on the left side about men, and about dogs on the right. I was only on page two and I was amused already.

So what sort of insight does the book share? "Don't date a slob. No matter how good a man's heart is, or what a great guy he seems, if he looks a mess, most likely he is a mess. A man who takes pride in his appearance has self-worth and that is a great quality." Partnered by " Make sure your dog is groomed regularly. Their appearance is very important and they look to you to keep them at their best."

Or "Handsome men are never a great bet. Often they have learned to rely on their looks and as a result have not had to develop a personality or sense of humor--two far more important qualities." With, "Don't choose a dog for his looks alone. Remember that looks are only surface deep--loyalty, devotion, an eagerness to please and unconditional love truly are the most wonderful things you can ever experience than the color of his eyes or the softness of his coat."

This author's one smart former model.

Juddah Overload!

I don't know why this merits a blog entry, but coincidence is just so bewildering I can't help it.

A few weeks ago, I was bitching over some questionnaire a group of students sent to the office. The answers to their queries were a click of a button away on Google, and I couldn't take it that I was missing my Saturday because of them. I called Georg to vent but couldn't get hold of her. A few minutes later, she returned my call.

"Georg, listen to these questions I have to answer..."

"Sorry I couldn't answer a while ago, I was shooting the TAYO feature with Juddha Paolo," she answered. She was talking about the documentary for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations, an award the office gives out.

"Juddha Paolo the gwapo guy?" I asked. (To those who don't know which gwapo guy this Juddha Paolo is, he was the hotta hotta Coca-cola boy. If you still can't remember him, you're on your own.)

"Haha, yeah," Georg answered. I could hear her repeating to somebody everything I said, and next thing you know, she had Juddha Paolo on the line.

"Hi," said Mr. Hotta Hotta to me.

"Hi," I replied, "So you're hosting the TAYO Special this year?"

"Yup, but don't judge me so much when you see it," he joked.

"I won't, I promise," Pa-cute. Haha...

A few weeks later, I was at the Power Plant Mall with Lizel and Ares to get Vina a birthday gift. When we accomplished our mission, we walked our way out of the mall to the taxi stand. There was no line when we got there, but a young man and a lady in her fifties joined us later.

Lizel suddenly stopped what she was saying to whisper, "Juddha Paolo behind us."

"Who's Juddha Paolo?" Ares asked audibly, and Lizel and I had to stifle our chuckles.

When I told Lizel about the short conversation I had with Juddha Paolo over the phone courtesy of Georg, she joked "You should've introduced yourself!"

And then last night, I was having dinner with Team Kiko alumni at Italiannis in Bonifacio High Street. A pretty girl with jet black hair and an arm covered with tattoo walked out of the restaurant. Her gothic style caught our attention, and as we wondered how it must've hurt to get all those designs on her limb, we noticed she had an escort: Juddha Paolo.

So what's the point? I don't have a point. I told you!

it's a conspiracy!

ina and how, on the way to the senate lounge to meet ditas, get into the elevator. senate president manny villar gets in with his entourage.

a group of female senate employees on the right corner of the lift: happy valentine's day sir!

sp villar: happy valentine's day rin.

(suddenly turns to his left, looks straight into ina's eyes for a long time)

sp villar: happy nga ba talaga ang valentine's?
(howie snickers behind ina. ina gives him a kick on the foot)

ina: no other way to explain it...it's a conspiracy!