the cuckoo coup

I remember waking up to the loud sound of choppers flying over the UP Diliman campus when I was 17. I was a dormer in Kalayaan (which literally means "freedom" -- with a name like this, it's ironic that we never had much freedom there... but that's another story), a kid fresh out of high school who was all alone in the City of Man (as in Man[ila], as a friend used to call it). All of us in the girl's wing on the 3rd floor jumped out of our beds and images of Idi Amin and Hitler flashed before my eyes. "Coup d'état!" was heard reverberating through the hallways and although we knew how grave the situation was, we were all thinking of the same thing -- classes were suspended! Yipee! (That was how young and stupid we were -- anything to get us out of Math 1.)

Fast forward to 2007, November 29. Trillanes did it again yesterday. (Do I hear Britney Spears singing, “Oops…” in the background?) I mean, this guy never learns from his past mistakes. To say that I was embarrassed is an understatement. It's days like this when as a Pinoy, you just wish you lived in Iceland (#1 as one of the best places to live on earth according to a recent survey) or in a galazy far, far, far away.

I'm not a political zealot. I hate to talk about politics, and although I rant about how stupid, corrupt and hopeless this country's government is, I'm also not the type to go out into the streets and rally for change (although I did go through my "Ibagsak ang imperialistang kano" phase in UP when I fancied myself a "tibak" -- as in activist). But when yesterday's fiasco was witnessed by people all over the world (it was in CNN and probably even in Telemundo or some other obscure Spanish cable channel), I just can't help but react.

This coup thing, this just won't work anymore. I can't even keep track of how many coups I've witnessed since that fateful day in Diliman. And all of them never worked! Yes, yes, we know that Gloria Arroyo is an immoral, corrupt bitch, and all the other invectives you can think of now will probably describe her perfectly, but overthrowing her government to institute (or is it force?) change is a futile act. Just wait till the 2010 elections and whip her ass, that's how it should be. I mean, the only real damage this act of rebellion has caused was the one done to that poor hotel door when it crumbled from the onslaught of that mammoth tank. For me, no damage to the government was made, GMA still sits on her queenly throne and Trillanes is once again f**ked.

Gawd, the embarrassment. One man's stupidity is everybody's shame. They're all a bunch of cuckoos if you ask me -- from Trillanes to GMA and her minions. EDSA can never be repeated. Let's leave it at that.

zak's day

My blogging momentum was temporarily derailed for a few days because of a DSL glitch. The thing with local service providers is that they make promises they don't keep. I've yapped, cursed, ranted, and screamed a few times because of problems with my internet connection and I noticed that if you don't go ballistic, your complaints usually fall on deaf ears. Customer service is a misnomer in this part of the world. Customer disservice is more like it.

Anyway, what have I been up to for the past days? Well, our son, Zak just had his first Holy Communion and Brends and I are extremely proud of him. They've rehearsed for a month before the D-day and it was all worth it. That's what I like about Assumption, they give so much importance on this sacrament. Zak's Holy Communion is a gift that I know he'll always cherish and keep inside of him the way I did. The ceremony was so beautiful and jaded me got misty-eyed especially when Zak said his lines (he did a prayer) perfectly. I almost fainted when he opened his mouth to speak but that was just me in my "overacting stage mom" mode. Sometimes we parents tend to worry too much. Our kids are actually way, way smarter than us.

Here's Zak holding his certificate of Communion. He looks so happy. It's moments like this when as a parent you feel that you've done something right. I think that more than tradition, putting Zak in Assumption was the best decision we ever made (Brends and I also went to Assumption). I want to be able to give him a strong spiritual background considering that he'll be continuing his schooling in the US soon. I know how the public school system (in the US and even here) can stunt a child's spiritual growth. I don't want to put him in a Catholic school too. That'd be too much financially and I'd be limiting his exposure to the real world. I want Zak to be independent and strong. He's already a great, smart, fun-loving boy, and I just want him to have strength of character and a bit of grit in him to survive this mad, bad world.

Nice shot! This was taken after the mass. We're all so color-coordinated (down to my hot pink pumps)! This family photo would have been perfect if Ripley was here but she decided to go to sleep right after the ceremony... I guess she got tired from running around the AC chapel. What can I do, she's 2 for God's sake!

After the Communion we had a nice family dinner in this new restaurant called Bigby's in Smallville. Zak wanted to try their quesadillas and ribs (they were great!) and their appetizers were also good. I love Bigby's because of their huge servings and even if the price is a little bit steep by this city's standards, I think the big portions more than compensate for it.

My mom-in-law Mommy Bel also went to dinner with us. Too bad the 2 other grandparents (my ma and pa) were not able to go. Ripley enjoyed herself although she had a temper tantrum and almost broke a plate (grr..). That's Brends, mommy Bel, Zak, Ripley and me.

the one with the minuscule serving

I hate small servings. There's one good reason for this -- I AM NOT A BIRD. Birds don't eat, they sort of just peck on their food with their little sharp beaks that can only hold small portions of insects, plants, or whatever stuff they love to eat. This is actually one of my nightmares, to sit in a restaurant starving and delirious from hunger and this waiter would give me a huge plate with nothing but 3 strands of pasta and a blot of sauce.

Last weekend, the whole family tried this new restaurant called Gusteau in the corner of Jalandoni and Delgado Streets. I heard from friends that the desserts were good, so the four of us trooped there with hungry stomachs and visions of Tiramisu after a satisfying lunch. Yep, the cakes and pastries looked yummy all right but we didn't even bother to order them. After a lunch of 2 lilliputian pizzas for Zak and Ripley, 4 spoonfuls of crab roe pasta for me, and my husband's roastbeef underload (the menu said 'overload' -- are you kidding me?), I didn't bother ordering dessert. I imagine they'd give me a mini cupcake the size of a peso coin, so what's the use? I did taste their dessert, a friend gave me a bite of their chocolate brownie and it was delish. I can't say much about the rest of their menu though. We left the place with grumbling stomachs and had burgers in Mc Donald's instead. Now that's what I call food!

Uppers:
great ambiance, nice seats, classy and clean, yummy desserts
Downers:
small food portions, quite expensive

Tip: If you still want to try out Gusteau's food, I suggest that you do a bit of role playing as not to be disappointed. Imagine you're a dwarf or some smaller creature like a fairy or a pixie and act as if you've been invited by a giant ogre to dine with him. The food will instantly look big -- gigantic actually! And when you're done eating Ogre's food, I still suggest that you go to the nearest fastfood joint and pig out.

the blahs

There are just days when you just want to sulk and vegetate. Ah, the blahs. Today is just one of those days when both the weather and my hair refused to cooperate. A typhoon was supposed to hit this side of the pacific, but fortunately, it decided to go some place else. My 2nd grader whooped with joy of course, because classes were suspended. Genius me didn't even bother to call the school, so I drove all the way to Assumption braving the blasted rain, traffic, mud, and potholes only to be told to go home by the guard.

To add to my agitated state, my kid's barber also didn't show up at the appointed time and I had to entrust my son's hair to some stranger who apparently had a deep affinity for his electric shaver. My son was looking at me with panic-stricken eyes when Barber X almost zinged his left ear. It wasn't entirely a disaster, Zak didn't lose any of his vital external organs or anything (or I would have shaved X's head and pounded him with the razor) but I know his hair would have been cut better if his old barber did it. The thing is, I just wanted him to look neat and handsome for his Holy Communion this weekend.

Gosh, how time flies. 8 years ago I was deciding whether I'd let the doctors do a circumcision just a day after I gave birth to him (so sue me I did let them do it. I blame it on the epidural still muddling my brains at that time. But I know he'll thank me someday for that for sparing him the agony and the embarrassment...) and now Brends and I are attending spiritual enrichment seminars for parents. Ah, parenthood. I get warm fuzzy feelings just thinking about my kids.

But I digress. Back to the blahs. I'm currently working on a magazine cover story and my visit to the printer to do some lay-out corrections didn't really work out too well. I had a major blockage in that part of the brain responsible for the realm of creativity. The layout sucked. Even old issues of Vogue couldn't help me out of the artistic rut that I was in. Diana Vreeland, where art thou? I must have forgotten to drink my morning coffee... which also explains why I'm having a massive migraine attack right now.

The thing about the blahs is that it isn't a permanent state of mind and being. If everything seems hopeless today, remember that tomorrow is always another day. Have a great day y'all.

baby talk

Two reasons why I just keep on going. Never thought I had it in me, this motherhood thing. I'm probably the last woman to be crowned mother of the year but my kids think I'm great (especially if I blackmail them with homemade pizza).

They're both so different. Zaki's the food connoisseur (he prefers sashimi than the ubiquitous McDo burger). He's gentle, sweet, and with an EQ higher than most adults I know. Ripley, on the other hand is oozing with character and spunk. She's my karma. The only living person who could probably whip me into meek submission. Zaki couldn't have said it better, "she's beautiful Mom, but she's crazy!" -- oh well, what can I say, she takes after me. As for their Dad, Brends is the kind of person who lets us all be ourselves. Never obtrusive and completely non-judgmental -- he's the ever gentle force behind us all.