The Mo-Rhian Kissing Video

When I first heard of this video, I was too late to catch it on YouTube, since it was already removed. I searched YouTube for another copy, but just saw those that were made to scare viewers at the end (sorry, but I am quite used to you guys, I hid 3/4s of the video screen to check first if Linda Blair's 'exorcist' face will appear). Luckily, I chanced upon this full-length 'not scary' controversial video of DJ Mo and Rhian Ramos. See and judge if the video is bad for Rhian's reputation. It was harmless at first, with the two appearing as just two people in-love kissing, but at the end, only a fool would believe they ended up just watching TV...you get what I mean?

Tin-Tin's Amazing Journey to the Big Screen

I must say that the big screen version of The Adventures of Tin-Tin, made possible through the genius minds of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson , was amazing. It was a feast to the eyes to watch because it was so well-made, you would thought the characters were real people and not computer generated. The story was great as well, since it stayed faithful to the books, and it imparts a lot of lessons to viewers, which makes it a must-see for kids. I will not give out the plot, to not spoil the fun for those who haven't seen the film, but I have posted clips from the film for you too see what I meant by saying that 'the characters were like real people'.

More Than Words...

16 days ago, something unexpected happened to my family...something I hoped wouldn't arrive too soon - my father-in-law had a massive heart attack, and he died in the emergency room of the hospital we brought him to. Even with everything that's happening at that time, we were all still hopeful that he would survive his heart attack, because he was conscious and all that. Just a few minutes after we all sat down outside the ER, we were surprised by the sight of my father-in-law being resuscitated by the doctors and nurses. A few more minutes after that, the doctor informed my mother-in-law that his heart is not responding anymore, and that was when she decided to let go. Tears followed after that. Dad's gone.

If I was to describe my father-in-law in a few words...that's exactly what I'll say - he's a man of few words. In the 12 years that we lived under one roof, we never really talked for long periods of time. So, everything I know about him were either gotten from my husband's stories or my own observation. But regardless of whether he spoke to me a lot or not, he was still good to me in many ways, even (and especially) to my children.

Like I said, Dad was a man of few words, but let me tell you when he would give us a bit of scolding - whenever he sees or feels that we are not taking good care of our kids, specifically with their health. You see, years of caring for our boys gave us this parental instinct that help us predict whether or not their illness need the attention of doctors or not, and that's something my father-in-law didn't like. Because of Dad's great concern for his grandchildren, he wanted us to always bring our kids to their pediatrician as soon as an illness starts to develop. Even with this difference of opinion, I couldn't get mad. Instead, I was grateful that aside from us, someone cared as much as we do for our kids.

Although my husband and I got married when we weren't financially stable yet, beginning a family wasn't hard, all because of Dad. He made one of the most difficult phase in a person's life an easy one. He paid for pre-natal check-ups, our hospital bills, our baby's monthly check-up and vaccines, and I never once heard him complain about it to our faces. He may have shared his sentiments about this to other people, but never to us. I hear other married folks complaining about their parents-in-law, I am fortunate to be not one of them. People like Dad are rare, and I was lucky to have crossed path with him in my lifetime.

I cried so hard when Dad passed away. Until today, tears still well up in my eyes when the thought of not seeing him anymore enters my mind. We survive each day without him because we imagine he's just out somewhere playing cards (tong-its) with his friends. When reality sets in, though, we get sad again. I cry because he was taken from us too soon. I cry for my children, because I know how much they'll miss their dear lolo, who was their constant companion. I cry for my mother-in-law, thinking how painful it is to lose the love of your life. I cry for my husband, especially when he tells me he misses his Dad. And finally, I cry thinking how he made a big difference in my life, and my children's lives.

Dad, we may have not exchanged a lot of words during the 12 years we spent together, but know that in exchange of millions of words, I am shedding tears for you...tears to tell you how much you are loved, missed, and how much I am thankful for all the support and understanding you have given to me and Jerome through the years. Thank you for being a loving lolo to my children, your apos. You are one of the most generous and kindest man I have ever met.

Let me end this post with a song especially dedicated for you. I know how much you loved Christmas songs, just like me (probably because we're both December babies). Every year, whenever September 1 comes, you start playing Christmas songs each morning, until Christmas day arrives. This is something we will greatly miss. Till we meet again, Dad...

The Amazing Spiderman: First Look at the Trailer

When I watched Cowboys & Aliens two days ago, I got the chance to catch a sneak peek of the trailer of The Amazing Spiderman. If you're excited as my kids are, please hold that off for a bit, because the film is scheduled to be shown in July 2012...that's almost a year of waiting! Let's just savor the trailer for now....

My2Cents on Andie Eigenmann's Pregnancy

photo courtesy of ofwnow.com

I am a chismosa at heart, which is why I'm a big fan of the fashionpulis blog. I couldn't resist reading it to get the latest showbiz scoop even before they officially become 'news'. The latest issue that was blind itemed (is there such a word?) by fashionpulis that became front page showbiz news is the pregnancy of Andi Eigenmann. It was bound to come out sooner or later, since it's pregnancy - a baby bump would eventually show. What's amazing is that, most people read it first at fashionpulis.com.

Anyway, going back to the issue - it was Jacklyn Jose, Andi's mom who confirmed her daughter's pregnancy. Being a mom myself, I can't imagine the pain she's going through. I am not only referring to the pain of seeing your child get pregnant out of wedlock, but also the pain of knowing her child will eventually get chastised by goody two shoes individuals out there, and mostly of the fact that her daughter didn't only get pregnant before marriage - the man responsible is literally not responsible and left Andi to face her situation alone. Kudos to Jacklyn, though, for standing by her daughter. Her strength is Andi's strength.

I know Andi is not a good role model for young women, but I do admire her for choosing her baby over her career. It's a known fact that her career's starting to take off, her pregnancy will surely place her back on the ground. But who knows, right? Filipino audience are known to always 'forgive and forget'. Let me give you some examples - Gabby Concepcion, Ruffa Gutierrez - "Take it! Take it!" Sound familiar?

photo courtesy of www.pep.ph

Andi may not be someone women should look up to, but her choice of pushing through with pregnancy is admirable. A lot of showbiz personalities have been said to have undergone abortion before, it wouldn't surprise us if Andi decided to go that path. Some supporters of the RH Bill actually took Andi's situation as an opportunity to tell the public that what happened to her could have been avoided if Andi and her partner were sexually educated. Oh c'mon! I'm pretty sure the two know a lot about sex, they just weren't too careful. I am looking at the postive side to all of this, I am loving the fact that Andi chose life - we always have to choose life. Just my 2 cents.

Ed Westwick for Penshoppe

I was browsing twitter today, and saw @PublicityAsia's post about a preview of her new website, http://prasiaworldwide.com/, and saw this gorgeous video of Ed Westwick doing a photo shoot for Penshoppe. Or should I say - a video of the gorgeous Ed Westwick? We know we love him, right? Enjoy girls! xoxo

CDR King's Poor Customer Service

photo credits: ekspoze.wordpress.com

Earlier in the day, I went to SM City Pampanga to meet up with a college friend. Before going to our meeting place, I decided to drop by the CDR King store, since the laptop sleeve I used had no handle, and my lappy is constantly slipping from my fingers. I anticipated that there would be no customers yet, because it was quite early. When I arrived, though, there were already 4-6 customers before me.

As soon as I arrived, I called on a saleslady to ask a quick question, before getting a number. I was the only customer in that section, and the saleslady was not doing anything, and yet, when she passed by me, she completely ignored me, and never looked my way. When she made her way back to where she came from, I called on her again, and she looked, but only to tell me, "please get your number". I thought, fair enough, if you want to strictly follow your rules even when I wasn't asking to be assisted yet, i will respect that.

The incident that followed completely used up all the patience I had left. See, there were about 5-6 sales person in the store, but only 1 was assisting customers. To add to the problem, the customer being served were requesting a lot of things, not minding the other customers waiting for her to finish (not blaming her, though). There were customers waiting, and around 4 or more sales people were moving around the store, not doing something important. In fact, the lady I called who asked me to get a number arrange one item in its case. Was that more important than serving waiting customers?

I told myself, 'be more patient', as minutes passed by. But when I couldn't take it anymore, I asked the only sales lady assisting, "Miss, ikaw lang ba ang pwedeng mag assist?", that was when they all scrambled to assist me, since I was next in line. I didn't shout, but they must have noticed the tone of my voice was verging on that.

To my disappointment, the lady who ignored me when I entered the store was the one who was assigned to assist me. Even if I was really pissed of, I almost smiled when I heard the other sales people greeting customers, asking them what they need, becoming friendly - after what I did. Shouldn't they have done that even before a customer temper had gone off because of poor customer service? Even when I tried to sound cool while the lady assisted me, I couldn't hide what I felt. Honestly, I was tempted to look at their items and leave without buying just to teach them a lesson. I didn't do that.

What is really up with CDR King's store procedure, right? I feel like I was in bank or payment center when I'm there. It's messed up, instead of being organized. Would it be really a sin to answer a quick question from a customer? Should their sales people ignore customers just because they have this number thingy going on? I have worked with sales and customer service for many years, and customer is always first is the rule of all companies I worked with. If I were they, I'd station two employees per section, and they would only assist customers who need items there. Visits to CDR King stores are mostly bad experiences for me. I have had it with this one, that's why I'm blogging about it.