Songs from the heart

I borrowed three DVDs last week to watch over the weekend. I only finished two of them; the third one, I fell asleep after the first 15 minutes. I already made a review for the first one, City of Gods, so I’d be tackling the second foreign film (non-Hollywood, that is).



Les Choristes (The Choir) released in 2004 is a French film directed by Christophe Barratier. Set at the end of the 1940s in rural France, an unemployed music professor, Clement Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot), accepted a supervisory post in a boarding school of rehabilitation for minors. Mathieu was quite shocked to discover the repressive system – with a heavy-hand for punishments – applied by the headmaster, Rachin (François Berléand). In order to get through the antics of the bunch of wayward boys, this new professor introduced to them the power of music.

This is your usual ‘one teacher that made a difference’ kind of movie – a French Dead Poets’ Society – yet it is a film filled with tenderness, beauty, purity and of hope. You can feel the sullenness of the boys’ struggle for independence and self-expression. The soundtrack of the young boys singing, written by Bruno Coulais and features the angelic voice of Jean-Paul Bonnaire, who plays Morhange in the film, will stick to the viewers long after they have finished watching it.

Parallelism of the journey

Over lunch of fish and chips with friends, one of them commented that the Harry Potter series is pretty much the same as the Lord of the Rings. This conclusion was made after he had seen the international trailer of the fourth Harry Potter film, Goblet of Fire. After a serious thought, I actually agreed with him. Coming from someone who hasn’t read the books of JRR Tolkien and of JK Rowling, he’s got some good points.

Here are some points one could easily point out just by seeing the movies: both films have spiders, elves, trolls, dragons and wizards. Shelob has more back-story in LOTR than Aragog of Chamber of Secrets, but the story of the acromantula that Hagrid raised in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts told his story to Harry in the movie. The elves in these two stories belong at the different ends of a pole. Elves in Tolkien’s world are considered higher beings, while elves in Rowling’s wizarding world are slaves; Legolas is far from Dobby. Dragons are to be featured in the upcoming HP film; though we didn’t see any dragons in any of the three Lord of the Rings films, there are dragons in Middle-earth. Smaug the dragon pretty much figures a lot in The Hobbit, which I do hope Peter Jackson will start working on. Harry Potter revolves in the magical world of witches and wizards, while only five wizards stepped foot in the lands of Middle-earth.

Do the similarities end there? Nope. Take the villains; Lord Voldemort is akin to being as evil Sauron. The Dark Riders are almost as synonymous as the Dementors. Are the Death Eaters the Uruk-hais of Harry Potter? Well, I pretty much think that Lucius Malfoy has more class than those mutant, upgraded orcs. However, as we get nearer to the major characters, that is where the similarities do get closer.

Harry is Frodo. They are both on a journey, chosen to take the task, and with one goal to defeat the Dark Lord. They both have old wizards who served as mentors and died in their journey. Uh-oh, I’m giving spoilers in here. Gandalf fell in the dark pits of Khazadum with a Balrog of Morgoth (a creature of fire), while Dumbledore burst into fire like a phoenix in his funeral. Harry has his Ron and Frodo has his Sam; both loyal friends willing to die for the heroes. Where does Hermione figure in? She’s a compendium of many characters: the Aragorn, the Arwen, the Galadriel, the Theoden, the Eomer, and Eowyn. The character in the Harry Potter books that will move mountains just so Harry could meet his final goal.

So the question now is: will Harry leave and die as an old and withered wizard? Do you think Harry would survive and live past seventeen? I do believe that Harry will vanquish the Dark Lord, just as Frodo was able to defeat Sauron by throwing the ring in the fiery heat on Mt. Doom (okay, Gollum did it). And just like Frodo, when all has come to past, Harry would never be the same. Frodo went to the Grey Havens at such a young age (sixty, perhaps I haven’t touched my LOTR notes for quite sometime now). Harry will die young and be with his parents and Sirius.

Why stay in the City of God, which God has forsaken?

My old schoolmates have a forum, which I am a member and often visit. One of the moderators, Toby Camandang, belong to my class and now gave me a section in that forum. Why, oh, why did I even suggested a section for book reviews and movies? Blame it to my so intruding self, then.

So here we go, first start is a movie released in 2002. Old, huh? It is not a mainstream movie and wasn’t shown in most theaters, but finding its DVD couldn’t be that hard. I’m not sure though, if it’s sold in the pirated section in Quiapo. This was considered a breakthrough film in their country, as the reality of the life of the poor was often glossed over in movies previously released.



City of God is a Brazilian film, directed by Fernando Meirelles with Katia Lund, which tells a real story of three decades of unrest in underground Rio de Janiero. Back in the 1960s, the slums of the city were taken over by youth gangs and only relinquished their hold in the mid-1980s. This is a story of a place Cidade de Deus, a poor housing project where organized crime and drugs flourished and became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro.

In this place, grew two young boys who each took a different path: one became a drug dealer, while the other a photographer. Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) was someone who is smart enough to realize that he is too frail to be an outlaw and decided to view his world through the lens. Li’l Dice or Li'l Ze (Leandro de Hora), on the other hand, dreamt of becoming the most dangerous criminal in the city.

This is a story of the passage of the place and the boys who had considered this forsaken place their home. In here, we could see the great division between the rich and the poor. How the destitute were left to their own devices and the affluent not caring what happens to their poor brothers.

Though riddled with violence, this journey to the netherworld where drugs and organized crime are a way of life is above all enlightening and affecting. It is a movie to awaken your senses, incite you and definitely elicits a response.

The way it was shown with flashiness in the visuals, style of cutting back and forth in time, and in somewhat overexposed glow made the viewer feel a bit numb from its violence. It was so heartbreaking to watch boys at the ages between seven to seventeen running around the street brandishing guns in their hands. And the line given by a young boy of probably the age of ten really tugged my heart: “I’ve snorted drugs, robbed, and killed. I am a man.”

Based on a book written by Paolo Lins, who himself grew-up in the City of God, this film was nominated to four Oscars, won a BAFTA film award for editing, considered as a Best Foreign Film by the New York Film Critics Circle and Independent Spirit, and received a Visions Award Special Citation in the Toronto International Film Festival.

Watch it and maybe you’d say what the main character said in the beginning of the film: “A picture could change my life.”

The surest defense against evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even eccentricity

With a little bit of time in my hands, I surfed the net and got across this test to know how weird I am. I would hurt to know if I’m eccentric. So, here’s what I got:

You are 50% Weird. Normal enough to know you’re weird, but too damn weird to do anything about it!

Me, only half-weird? I’m glad I am; this just confirms that I don’t completely belong to the bizarre. Just a bit of an oddball or can be spooky sometimes. Nevertheless being strange can be a good thing; it adds mystery, cuts you above the rest, gives you a certain identity, and allows you more leeway to be a deviant.

There’s another one that I took, a link I got from a forum with old schoolmates. It was a test to check how NERDY you are. How did I fare? I’m really sure that that test was flawed. Oh, for freaking out loud those kinds of test are flawed! Anyways, this was the outcome:

9% scored higher (more nerdy),
and 91% scored lower (less nerdy).
What does this mean? Your nerdiness is: Supreme Nerd. Apply for a professorship at MIT now!!!.

Like I really am all that! Okay, I might have been a bit above the average way back in my primary and secondary school, and just swimming in the median during my college years, but I am in no way a nerd. I am cool! I didn’t hole myself up in my room on weekends to read encyclopedias and do my homework when I was at school; I went to the beach, hang out with friends, and did silly things that normal teenage girls would normally do.

So tell me:
How Weird Are You? or
How Nerdy Are You?

Can you treat pimples at the nether parts of your body?

I’ve heard a long time ago that if you got a bad case of pimple, get a tube of your toothpaste (best if Colgate) and put some on your problem pimple. It has been said that it will dry out overnight. I never believed it, but some people do attest to its effectiveness.

More than a week ago, with a lot of thoughts running through my head, I went to our sink and brushed my teeth without giving so much a thought to it – doing it mechanically. After a minute of brushing, with my mouth covered in froth, a mindless thought occurred to me. Why isn’t there a tinge of mint in this toothpaste? Then my eyes trailed to the tube sitting precariously by the edge of the sink glowing in front of me. It was my Neutrogena’s Deep Clean Foaming Cleanser!

After some cycles of squawking and splitting and gurgling, I was able to wash down its soapy taste with another round of brushing with real toothpaste.

So, if toothpaste can be used to treat pimples on your face, can you then use a facial cleanser to clean your teeth? My answer to that is a resounding NO! It tasted awful. As for the title, nope I don't have pimples in the nether regions of my body.

A taste of irony

When I got back to work from our vacation in Thailand, I, of course, had a bunch of emails waiting for me to read. Still reeling from the euphoria of a wonderful trip in the beautiful beaches of Thailand, I was gob-smacked to read one email from a friend, reminding me how beautiful my country Philippines is. It’s a link to a video made to boost the Philippine tourism; a collaboration of twenty-one Filipino artists singing about our great country and inviting us to travel.

Tell me if that video did not tug your hearts; it did to mine. Yes, I do want to learn more of my country, visit the nether places, see the beauty of a fishing village, thread the green rice-fields, swim its rivers and lakes, bask in its white, sandy beaches, dive into its deepest seas, hop on its many neighboring tiny islands, enjoy the different dishes each place could offer, and get to know more of our countrymen.

Oh, yes I have been to the best beaches in our country known the world over. I’ve enjoyed Boracay twice. First, back when it wasn’t a very famous destination of Manilaneos escaping the humid air of the metropolis – only filled with white people enjoying the laid back provincial life. Second, when it became a famous jaunt to Filipino yuppies. My family and I traveled up and down the length of Palawan during our three-year stay in that lovely province. Even though I did not get to join them when they went to El Nido, I’m happy to say that I went inside the underground river twice. Any beach in that place is great! Oh, how I miss the Honda Bay!

When I was eight, my Mom and I went to a Luzon trip with friends. We went to Baguio, viewed the Banawe Rice Terraces in the early morn with all the fog, hopped around the Hundred Islands, see the imperfect yet active Taal and watched the raging rapids of Pagsanjan. I envied my Dad when he told us about the wonderful places called Zamboanga and Davao, and wished to go with him when he had a trip to Naga and Legaspi just to get a glimpse of the majestic Mayon volcano. I was even pissed off when he and my brother had a stop-over at Cebu City. I often looked at my Mom’s picture with the chocolate hills behind her.

There are so many places I want to visit in our country like Vigan, Batanes, and Negros. Someday, maybe with my Mom and the whole family, and at the same time introduce this beautiful country, which had nurtured me with all its natural resources, to my son.

I was even amazed when my husband commented during our beach hopping in Phi Phi island that he had never seen such clear waters and such beautiful beaches. What did I say to him? The sands of Boracay and Palawan are even whiter and that there are even better or far greater places that these in our country.

So before thinking of going to visit the castles of Europe, the safari of Africa, snow caps at Antarctica, Grand Canyon of the States, visit this small country with filled with heritage, wildlife, panoramic mountains, deep blue seas, and happy, hospitable people.

The serenity of the open seas and lolling underwater

Whenever I go to great beaches, snorkeled and swam with schools of fishes, memories of my good, old childhood comes flashing before my eyes; I could here the quietness of the beaches of San Jose (Mindoro) and Puerto Princesa (Palawan) and taken back in time when my Dad teaches me how to swim.

Yes, I’m a beach babe. No, I don’t have a hot body that one could flaunt in a nice piece of rag. Okay, I’m just saying babe because I don’t want to be called a ‘beach bum.’ I’m one of those kids who were raised to love the open waters. San Jose has a good beach (not white, though); however, we do have a White Island not too far from our main land. You could see it from the beach but you have to wait for the low tide.

I learned how to swim thanks to the snorkeling gear my Dad bought for us. Yeah, we all got little fins, goggles and, of course, the snorkel – that long tube which helps in breathing. So, if at one point that we get to swim at the pool together, you’d notice that I never dip my face into the water. This is quite funny actually, because I don’t know how to close my nose and open my eyes underwater without goggles and a snorkel. It’ll be odd, isn’t it, if I use a snorkeling gear at the pool?

Almost every Saturday morning, back when we were still in San Jose, my family would go down to the beach. We would bring along an empty pot (kaldero) and go to Gotohan sa Mabini and buy lots of Arrozcaldo to fill our pot. Then we’re off to Mayon Bakery for fifteen pesos worth of hot pandesal. There’s nothing like eating hot arrozcaldo and pandesal early morning by the beach, with your feet on the sand and watching the fishermen board their little bancas off for a bit of fishing, and the sun hasn’t risen that high yet.

My younger brother, Reggie, didn’t like the water at first. I remember when he was three or probably four, he’d spend his time at the beach playing with the little stones, shells and sand, and later would freak out whenever the water would come lapping at his feet. He simply doesn’t want to go into the water, and was kind of a joke in our family; we got pictures to prove it. But after years, it was him who was hard to pull off from the water.



There was a year wherein we would spend the whole of Sunday in the beach with other family friends; that was when I burned my skin really dark. I was on my third grade that time and Sunday was the greatest day of the week. After Sunday morning mass, we’re off to the beach until the sun goes down. My Dad gave diving lessons that’s why. We only took a break of probably two months after one Colonel disappeared while diving and was found dead and bloated two weeks later.

Just imagine the joy when my Dad learned that he’d be assigned to be the Branch Head of DBP in Puerto Princesa. More beaches and diving places to explore, much better than in Mindoro even than Boracay.

My Dad made a promise to me and my brother that when we turned eighteen he would bring us along to one of his dives and really teach us how to go to the deep seas and explore the life throbbing beneath the dark waters. He didn’t last that long enough to even be with me on my eighteenth birthday, for he died on my brother’s sixteenth birthday.



Swimming was bonding time for my siblings, my Dad and me; it still is for my Dad and me, for he is with me whenever I take a plunge into the blue waters.

The Phi Phi Adventure Part 4

Day four and our Phi Phi adventure was at its end. Herman didn’t even want to go home yet; Josh didn't want to get out of the water. After breakfast and a bit of packing, we went down to the beach to took our final swim at Laem Thong Beach. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining high, the sea was calm, and you could see the clouds.





What a great day it would be for beach hopping and snorkeling, even doing some photo shoots. Since we have to start packing our bags, all we could do was lament that we should have stayed longer.



After checking-out and paying all the bills, we had our final lunch buffet at Tai Rom Prao, while being serenaded by an in-house, all-Filipino band.







It was a short vacation that we all enjoyed, something that we will keep in our hearts forever. It was a place we definitely want to visit once more.

All pictures were finally uploaded to our gallery.

Pompous Percy

Cheers to the 29th birthday (assuming he lives past book seven) of the famous prat, Percy Ignatius Weasley!

The Phi Phi Adventure Part 3

Tuesday morning we woke up not having any plans for the whole day, as the previous night we haven’t checked on the watersports activity center if we could have a boat that would bring us to Phi Phi Lae (a smaller island), where you can find ‘The Beach.’

I’m very anxious that we’d leave to Phuket without even visiting the famous Maya Beach, which was made more well-known because of that Leonardo Dicaprio’s movie. So, after ordering our morning breakfast to be delivered in our bungalow, Herman called the watersports activity center to check if we could visit Maya beach that day.

They told him that longtail boats could probably still have a hard time entering the beach, but speedboats could. Speedboat rentals are pretty high, five times that of a longtail boat, but we were in luck as they have arranged a trip there that charges per person. So we joined that half-day trip to Phi Phi Lae for 800 baht per person (including a lunch hamper) on board a two-engine speedboat.



At eleven in the morning we boarded the Rinrada with ten other tourists. Boy! It was a fast trip as we rip through the little waves going to the island where Maya beach can be found. We entered the enclosure and found the famous beach filled with boats and tourists. Even though the day wasn’t what you might call a perfect weather, the beach looked so beautiful. The water isn’t too calm as what you would normally see in pictures, but still you could see the beauty and allure of the place.



The palm trees you saw in the movie weren’t there when we stepped out of the boat. We were told that those were only planted specifically for the shoot. The sands on the beach are so fine that the shallow part of the water is so milky white. Maya beach is already a famous destination even before that movie, but I guess knowing that Jack of Titanic walked on the sands of this beach (probably even peed on its water) increased the traffic of tourists wanting to see this place.





After thirty minutes of cavorting in the white sands of ‘The Beach,’ we boarded our boat and went off to do snorkeling in Loh Samah Bay. It was a very good place to watch the fishes. The water is so clear that you don’t need to jump into the water and snorkel, but being me (raised by a diver) took the plunge even though there was a slight drizzle.



Swimming with the fishes could be tiring, and so we moved to Pilae Bay, a beautiful area for relaxing, swimming and a light picnic.





After finishing our lunch we headed off to the Viking Caves, the last of places to visit in the small island of Phi Phi Lae. Before, tourists could enter and look at the wall paintings and see the beautiful stalactites inside, but since that docks were damaged by the tsunami, it would be hard to enter.



On our trip back, we again stopped at the Monkey Bay, had a few shopping minutes at Ton Sai Bay and more snorkeling in Run Tee Bay. When we got back at the resort we still have more energy and time to finally enjoy the Laem Thong Beach right in front of our resort.



The water is shallow in the afternoons, so we borrowed a kayak.



More pictures of Maya beach in here.

The Phi Phi Adventure Part 2

After having an American breakfast delivered in our room, we got ready for a day-trip around the island. At ten in the morning (Phuket time), the picnic lunch box we ordered from the restaurant arrived and a few minutes later the longtail boat assigned to us touched the beach a few feet from where Josh was playing under the heat of the sun.



First stop is the Bamboo Island, which is visible from the front of the resort and a twenty-minute boat ride. Okay, the beach is white and very clear, but I didn’t get to see any bamboo tree.



Second place to visit is the Mosquito Island, nope it isn’t a place swarmed with mosquitoes – it is simply shaped like a giant mosquito. It has nice spots for a bit of snorkeling, though there’s not much beach to speak at all.



After snorkeling at shallow waters of Mosquito Island, we went to La-na Bay and did a bit of swimming on the beach.



Then we were off to Nui Bay, where you could see a lot of fishes swimming in the clear waters.



Finally we entered the Loda Lum Bay, part of the famous Twin Bays (Ton Sai was the other one). It is the narrow isthmus which you would normally see on postcards. This place was the most photographed in Phi Phi Don, but now you could clearly see the great damage the tsunami had caused. It’s still teeming with tourists lounging on the white beach for a tan.





From Loda Lum, we faced some rough waves, which got Herman nervous. As we were turning and riding the tough waves, we saw two guys hardly maneuvering their kayak near the coves. We saw them raised their thumbs up and thought they were saying that the place up ahead was good; but then I noticed it wasn’t a thumbs-up for a good thing at all. They were signaling for a hitch! They’re having troubles and need help. So we asked the boatman to stop and help the poor guys; they tied one end of the kayak to the end of our boat and pulled them along. Those guys even enjoyed the fast ride!



Then we reached Yongasem Bay or the Monkey Bay. Well, as the name suggests, there’s a lot of monkeys milling on its white, sandy beach – wild monkeys at that – that is why people don’t normally go to its shore. This bay is also a good place for snorkeling.



Ton Sai Bay is just a few minutes away from the Monkey Bay and we dropped our hitchhikers there and did a bit of walking on the busy commercial district of this place. We had another look at the tsunami devastation.

From Ton Sai Bay, we then proceeded to Loh-Moh-Dee Bay, a great place for swimming and just relaxing on the beach. It is secluded in a way that it only has a house for information; boats drop-off tourists in there and pick them up later. Herman enjoyed this place because the water is so clear and quite shallow. Josh enjoyed the shallow waters until he saw a monkey somewhere on the beach and freaked out.



Run Tee Bay was next. There’s a small hotel on this beach and a restaurant. It is also a good place for snorkeling and you could see a good amount of fish a nice corals.



Last stop was Lobago Bay where you can find the Pee Pee Village Hotel. After hopping from beaches to the next, you don’t get too much impressed anymore. The sun has already set and we are very much near the beach of our resort.



Day 2 was a lot of fun and tiresome, but we pretty much worked up an appetite for the dinner buffet under the palm trees offered by the resort’s restaurant, Tai Rom Prao. We were pretty much a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to visit Maya Bay, but then no hope was lost, as there’s still another full day ahead.

More pictures added in our photo gallery.

The Phi Phi Adventure Part 1

By 6 am last Sunday I was already up and about preparing everything we need to bring along on our trip; at exactly seven-thirty we were already at the Changi Airport Terminal 1 Check-in counter. As our plane was taxiing down the runway, travel troubles with my little kid began.

Oh gee! Having a hyperactive, three-year old boy could be such a pain when you are traveling. First thing was that he didn’t want to put on his seat belt; second, he wouldn’t stay put on his own chair; third, he’d run up and down the aisle throughout the flight. I was so exasperated that I even dreaded our trip back home.

Anyways, arriving at the Phuket International Airport was a breeze. The driver who was assigned to pick us up at the airport and bring us to the ferry terminal was so kind and hospitable. Because we still have time to kill before the ferry trip to Phi Phi Island, he brought us to a hilltop where we could see the whole of Phuket. Phuket is not too different from any sub-urban town in the Philippines.



The ferry ride from Phuket to Phi Phi was even longer than our airplane trip; the sea was a bit rough, as it had been raining for the past days. Most of the passengers were foreigners and of course, white people wanting to get some tan. The first stop of the ferry was at Ton Sai Bay, the very heart of Phi Phi Don, where the nightlife, shopping and restaurants are located. You get to see a lot of different kinds of boats covering the waters. You could see the remnants of the devastation brought about by the tsunami last December.



Twenty minutes more and we were already at the Laem Thong Beach in front of Holiday Inn Resort. The resort is such a serene place. We stayed at a bungalow a few steps from the reception house, and two bungalows deep from the beach. There’s a patio to lounge around, a big vase filled with water and floating flowers to wash your feet before entering, and flowers on your bed.



We got there at around six in the afternoon, so after settling, we decided to walk down the beach and have a look around. We got to a gypsy village right beside the resort and bought some drinks – we all know that prices at the mini-bar are quite steep. Herman was so surprised at the price of a bottle of Heineken beer that he bought two (less than S$1 each).



Then we went to the water sports activity center to book a longtail boat for the next day to go around the island, and that I will tell you about on my next post.





More pics in here. As I post a new blog regarding our trip, more pictures will be added to our collection.

The family goes away for an adventure

I just finished packing our things for the much-awaited trip to the island of Phi Phi in Thailand. We’ll fly off tomorrow and come back on Wednesday. So I’m pretty much expecting a lot of emails flooding all my email accounts both at work and my personal ones. There wouldn’t be entries on this site for the time being, as I want to enjoy and relax and have a good rest (I hope!)



So I’m looking forward to the clear seas, remarkable snorkeling sites, visits to hidden coves, the feel of the sand beneath my bare feet, and picturesque places to behold. Probably a moment to spend in a hammock and read a book or I’d be out and about taking more and more pictures, which you’ll surely see when we get back. And, of course, visit the beach where The Beach was filmed.

Things you could get for a coupon

I am not the type of person who saves up coupons given out by supermarkets for purchases that reach a certain amount; these coupons are in turn to be used to get goodies. NTUC Fairprice, the largest supermarket chain in Singapore, changed all that. I never thought that I would imbibe the Singaporean trait of joining the jostling crowd for a good bargain.

Coupons given out for the last three months or so were for a certain range of glass cookware, and they looked great. So, for the last three months I bought all our groceries over at NTUC Fairprice supermarket to accumulate as much coupons in exchange for cookwares. Yesterday was the last day for giving out coupons and they could only be exchanged until 18th of August.

Just imagine the scramble and hustle going around at redemption corners in one store. It was fun when you share the excitement with friends; when you can’t find the item that you want in one store and move to another; when that item goes on stock and you went to a branch wherein they don’t have it; and thanks to friends who have coupons and willingly give them to us because they’re not that much interested or had a few extras.

I intended an ode but there’s just no rhyme

I wanted to make an ode to one electronic gadget in our family we just lost recently. Don’t ask my husband, as he is still too much distressed over it. But I’m just too choked with emotions that I can’t string words of any lyrical content. Poetry is just too far from my grasp nor rhyme nor rhythm.



My husband bought this Sony NetMD (MZ-N10) less than two years ago; because, well, an iPod was just too steeply priced as the mountain in Bukit Timah for a non-mountaineer like me. This was part of Sony's offering in their 10th Anniversary line-up of MiniDisc units, and what one might one consider as top of the range. I haven’t even got the hang of using its nifty features, but it served as good company during my travels to and from the office before the iPod flooded the market.

It was planned to be sold to Josh’s nanny for a very cheap price and be replaced with an iPod of a humongous capacity; or be sold bundled with the Xbox, another electronic gadget that is hardly used. The external battery case, which was never used, is sitting in front of me as I am writing this, and the charging cradle is still plugged into one of our sockets.

Herman is still coming to grips that it was gone – you can say that he is in denial – for it was him who was using it when it got lost. There wouldn’t be any music to blast in his ears as he strolls in the sandy white beach of Phi Phi island next week.

Ginny baby

Happy Birthday, Ginny Weasley!

Assuming she lives through HP7 (hope not), she'll be turning 24 today.

Profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader

It was such a great delight to know that a friend just discovered the wonder of Harry Potter books. JK Rowling has really gone a great distance with her books. It all started with the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was first published in July 1997 with only 500 hardback copies. It was followed the next year (July 1998) with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with increased printed copies of 10,150. I guess the books has not yet created quite a stir and so when Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was first printed in July 1999 only 10,000 copies were released.

But everything changed in July 2000 for the fourth installment; 4.8 million copies of the first edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire were released. It already broke all publishing records by selling 372,775 copies on its first day. The madness further heated up with the much-anticipated release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on June 2003 with 8.5 million copies printed for the first edition. Five million copies of the fifth book were sold on the first 24 hours of its release in the US.

And now for the latest release (July 2005) of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 6.9 million copies were sold in the first 24 in the United States alone. Joanne Kathleen Rowling is now some real rich woman – even richer than the Queen Elizabeth II all told. I’m not very familiar at how authors really do earn from published works, but I’ve read somewhere that they do get paid for at least ten percent of the book’s selling price as a royalty – famous ones surely get more than that. She probably earned more from royalties from films and merchandises (I’ve got HP toys, notebooks, calendar, pillow, mouse pad; a badminton mate even got a Harry Potter bedsheet!)

Why do these fantasy books mainly aimed for children attracted adults as well? Maybe because of the different themes tackled in the series such as choices, love, intolerance, humility and slavery. The well-loved old wizard Dumbledore said one of the famous quotes from the books: "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

Time of great stress… a four-day off

I love long weekends. It’s Singapore’s 40th birthday tomorrow, so a holiday on a Tuesday could give you nice ideas of skipping work on the Monday before that. And I did what a normal, vacation deprived worker would do, I applied for a one day leave. Ah… the fun of four days without anything to do… Freakin’ shite! It’s the third day and I feel so tired.

We’ve been going around and haven’t spent more time in the house these past few days than we normally would on a weekend. Blame it to all the sales going around in Singapore? There’s some crazy toy fair over a Takashimaya, which would end on the 14th of Aug; you lot better check it out. It was a freakin’ good bargain! Josh pretty much collected a few more to add to his burgeoning collection of toys; another trash to deal with at home.

I only checked my email today since last Friday, and oh good Lord! I’ve got at least 50 mails to read through; that includes yahoo groups crap. It’s great to hear news from a friend who just got married and another one who announces her coming wedding date. Times are really flying past by us so fast that you could hardly breathe for air. That is why vacations are there for a breather. We’re going to Phi Phi island in Phuket, Thailand next weekend, by the way (haven’t you noticed the odd names of places in that country? Hehehe). We’ll be staying at Holiday Inn Resort, all thanks to my husband’s employee benefits.

Madness to talk peace with a wolf

I have run through most of the poems in Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes; there’s two more left but they are kind of intertwined so I’ll tackle them at the same time. They are Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. You might be puzzled and wonder what’s the connection between these two stories. Well, the title of this post should clue you in; the villains in these two stories are wolves, and so here it goes…

It was the same drill with the wolf being hungry and eating Little Red Riding Hood’s grandma, and that cross-dressing wolf putting on granny’s clothes to fool the little girl. They went through the familiar dialogue of her asking him about his big eyes and ears; then she asked him about his furry coat.

Then Little Red Riding Hood said,
'But Grandma, what a lovely
great big furry coat you have on.'

'That's wrong!' cried Wolf. 'Have you forgot
'To tell me what BIG TEETH I've got?
'Ah well, no matter what you say,
'I'm going to eat you anyway.'

Do you think Little Red Riding Hood screamed in fear? Nope, she smiled and pulled a pistol from her knickers and shot him in the head. I have never thought that that little girl could be a gunslinger. And so the story ends with this:

I came across Miss Riding Hood.
But what a change! No cloak of red,
No silly hood upon her head.
She said, 'Hello, and do please note
'My lovely furry WOLF-SKINCOAT.'

With that new "lovely furry wolfskin coat" word got around how good she is with wolves, and this is where our next story comes in.

Pigs are noble. Pigs are clever,
Pigs are courteous. However,
Now and then, to break this rule,
One meets a pig who is a fool.

For instance, the first pig who made a house from straws and became bacon and ham to the hungry wolf; there’s the second pig who made a house on sticks and whose house was blown down and nicely chopped up by the wolf’s nasty fangs. But the wolf finally met his match in the third pig who built his house with bricks; he huffed and he puffed but couldn’t blow the house down.

'If I can't blow it down,' Wolf said,
'I'll have to blow it up instead.
'I'll come back in the dead of night
'And blow it up with dynamite!'

The third pig still got his wits with him, and did the most logical thing to do; he called for help and dialled Ms. Riding Hood’s number. “Wolf! I’ve got one at my door,” he cried to her. “Don’t fret, for that’s up my alley ,” she said. So she came after her newly washed hair had dried and met the wolf with his sharp teeth , raw gums and spit dripping from his jaw. The maiden’s eyelid flickered once more, drawn the pistol from her knickers and hits the wolf with a single shot.

All’s well that ends well, isn’t it? Sorry, but the third pig was equally a fool.

Ah, Piglet, you must never trust
Young ladies from the upper crust.
For now, Miss Riding Hood, one notes,
Not only has two wolf-skin coats,
But when she goes from place to place,
She has a PIGSKIN TRAVELLING CASE.

Time will bring to light whatever is hidden

When you try to cover-up a stinky thing, it is bound to sip through the cracks and reach somebody else’s nose sooner that you think. It happened today in our team. No, nobody emitted a reeking break wind (that’s just gross!).

It was a great mishap in our UAT (for user’s testing) environment. For the uninitiated in terms of IT things: when we develop systems, we have this environment for the users to test so that they can tell if the new system wasn’t that good enough or it needs more change before it could actually be used publicly. This environment should be owned by the operator and the development team shouldn’t have in anyway any access on it.

Somehow by freak of nature, some people working on one UAT environment noticed that all the authorities where changed – that it’s no longer owned by the operator and that the development team, pretty much, could do anything they want on it. So one on my boss tried to figure out what happened; there’s just five of us who knew about it – as we are working on it. She asked us to find a way to copy over the set-up from another UAT environment to this problematic one without the knowledge of the bigger boss. So, you see, she tried to hush it up – I could tell from the meetings we were having far from the big boss’s cubicle.

However, we can’t proceed right away to rectify the problem as users are pumping data to this environment – they’re one group of people you wouldn’t want to mess with. So we waited for the right time, and at the same time identifying which is the best UAT environment we could copy from.

Then the dreadful email came today, which opened the can of worms. There’s another group in our team that will bring up changes to that environment and finally hit the error. As usual, they would investigate and finally the project leader of this group sent an email to everyone in our team, including the big boss (of course), asking what happened to this freakin’ environment.

Oh, I’m pretty sure all hell will break loose. Good thing is that I became a part of this after the fact; meaning we were the ones who first noticed the problem. So I’m part of that group wondering what happened. I haven’t heard any high voices coming from the big boss’s cubicle yet; maybe she still hasn’t read the email, or she’s still digesting it and tries to get over the shock.

The loss of heaven is the greatest pain in hell

I have watched you from afar far too many times that I could not count them as the sands that have now clung to my feet. I’ve seen you filled with different kinds of emotions: happy, sad, angry, perplexed, excited, agitated, fearful or maybe dejected; I’ve seen far more, but today it was different.

You had been sitting on that bench for hours now; when I got up this morning you were already there. Four hours had passed since I asked you to come over and have some breakfast with me, yet you sat there like some old statue savoring the chilly air as it lashes on your face. Your eyes were looking at something far across the seas – far beyond what my eyes could reach – or maybe you were just staring at nothing, to the nothingness that had engulfed us for weeks.

I know you are hurting; so am I. Those eyes have shown how far you have gone, and I want to follow. I wish for the tears to fall from your eyes, for then I could cry with you and maybe comfort you; but you have that hardened look now of resolve.

Your head moved! You turned your gaze at me, which made me stiffen at the spot I had occupied while watching over you. Our eyes met and you gave me a slight smile; yet your eyes were still hallowed. I walked over and took a spot on the same bench you had conquered, and you turned your gaze back to the seas, back to the nothingness. We sat there in silence, you looking beyond and me looking at you.

“There’s nothing interesting on my face, you know,” you suddenly uttered, and I heard your half-hearted giggle.

I did not dare contradict you and merely let out a snigger. I couldn’t dare say the words – the words that were lodged in my throat for months. Words that show how I feel; a feeling that I have tried to deny every time I see you with him. I wanted them to remain unrequited for I know you belong to him. I am but a friend, who knows you too well and would die for you.

“He asked me to marry him before it happened,” you told me almost whispering.

“I know,” I replied. “He told me what he was about to do. I’m happy for you both. Did you know that?” I added.

“Are you, really?”

I swallowed some air for you caught me again. You can read my mind; you’re my voice of reason for Pete’s sake!

“I’m sorry. It could have been a nice wedding,” I said.

You locked your eyes on mine and your stony face began to crumble. The tears I so long wanted to see trickled down your face. The waters you tried to stifle with the walls you had painstakingly erected to surround you broke free and came raging like the stormy seas.

Pour them all out to me; let me gobble up all our pain and bear them all. I’ll willingly carry them on my broken back just so long that you could find that happiness all over again. For you are the earth I walk on; the air I breathe; the drop of water on my dried up lips. You are my life.

Contrition felt for the crime distinguishes the virtuous from the wicked

Have it ever crossed your mind that that little girl with golden locks of hair, who barged into the lovely home of a bear family, committed a grievous crime? Yes, I will be discussing another well-loved fairy tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It was a story of trespassing and vandalism; and it being regarded as a children’s story amazes me!

Just put yourself in the shoes of the Mama Bear (if she ever wears one): she cleaned the house, prepared a delicious meal of steaming hot porridge and fresh coffee (probably some toast, too), your family stepped out of the house for just a short walk; and came back to your house with the porridge eaten, your son’s little dining chair broken (let’s think for a minute that it could be an antique passed down through generations), your beds undone and to your horror the nosy little skunk climbed to the beds with fresh sheets without taking off her filthy shoes thick with grime!

Goldilocks committed at least three crimes: first, breaking and entering; second, stealing (the porridge); third, destruction of property. That did not include the fact that she mess she smeared on the spotless sheets with her filthy stinking shoes.

In the traditional story, children are supposed to cheer when this little criminal escapes; but in Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhyme she got her comeuppance.

'Oh daddy!' cried the Baby Bear,
'My porridge gone! It isn't fair!'
'Then go upstairs,' the Big Bear said,
'Your porridge is upon the bed.
'But as it's inside mademoiselle,
'You'll have to eat her up as well.'