10TH BIRTHDAY AT BATAAN

For this year, the family decided to spend my daughter’s tenth birthday at the same place that our office and the hubby’s office had an outing, at Bagac, Bataan. The resort was not really top notch but the entrance was relatively cheap and even the rental for the huts too. This is something that we need considering that we were almost 50 in all! Imagine that! But let me backtrack a bit, on Friday night which is actually my little girl’s birthday, we got home at around 9 p.m. bringing cake and spaghetti for her and her cousins to partake. Then after some small talk, we all slept excited for the big day ahead of us.

The next day, I was awake with the others at 3 am to cook our breakfast (rice only since the viands had been cooked the night before) We finally left at 6 and after a long two-hour drive (the others rode in the truck that a cousin uses for his sand/gravel delivery business), we reached Bataan by 8:30 a.m. Upon arrival, we ate breakfast of adobo and bangus, and just now realized that there are a total of 47 people that came with us so the 3K adobo did not at all suffice! The longganisa took so long to cook so the others made do with the nilagang itlog. I just ate fruits that we bought along the way.

By ten after the kids had their fill of the beach and eating, we hopped off on a boat to go to the white sand beach where they can truly swim to their hearts content. Only Ditse, Inang and Esto and his family were left behind to cook our lunch. Esto got left behind since he lost his glasses in the big waves of the beach, I told him he would enjoy the calmer waters of the white beach but was hesitant as he didn’t know how to swim. We reached the white beach and the water was still calm but then the beach itself was a bit littered and muddy…well, too bad but still the kids enjoyed swimming and having photo ops.

We left the place at a past 12 and wanted to pass by the cave and go cliff diving but it was not meant to be since the sea was so rough, the boat can’t get near to dock…oh dear, it would have been Kuya’s dream to take his friends and cousins there. Just too bad! And so we headed back to Bagac beach and ate lunch upon arrival. After eating, the kids went back and hit the water since they knew it would be quite awhile before they can get anywhere near the sea once again. I, too went back to swim after I tried to sleep and can’t!

I guess in all everyone enjoyed spending time on the beach (our first with the entire clan!) even if there was a shortage of food (well, I was surprised at the number of people that turned up!). Well, it is not every time that they get to see a beach so I guess everyone wanted to go and join the outing. What matters is that everyone had fun (even if the others riding the truck got wet while on the way home coz it rained) It was one outing that I hope to repeat (though not with such a huge number once again) and hope that next time it would even be more manageable and enjoyable for all of us!

SEEKING JUSTICE - A movie review

The movie begins with a fidgety man who is shown being interviewed by someone (like an investigator) asking him about the meaning of the phrase ‘hungry rabbit jumps’. I am not sure if he answered since the next clip shows him going out to his car in a parking lot then another car comes in behind him and pushes his car over the edge of the parking lot which makes him fall to death. The movie is actually about an English teacher, Will Gerard (Nicolas Cage) who was shown celebrating their anniversary thru dinner with his wife, a musician while the news on TV about the ‘accident’ at the carpark plays in the background. The two proceed to a dance club with some friends, like Jimmy, who also works as a security officer at the high school.

One night, while Will and Jimmy hang out at their regular chess club meeting and after a performance, Will’s wife was beaten and brutally raped by a stranger inside her car. When Will gets out of the chess club he sees a frantic message on his cellphone so he proceeds to the hospital. There he sees his wife badly bruised and unconscious and is comforted by Laura’s friend and Jimmy. While he is waiting for news about Laura’s condition, Will is approached by a man who offers to ‘take care’ of the man who did this to his wife. He tells him that he comes from an organization that doesn’t believe in the justice system due to its propensity to let go of criminals who were guilty due to a technicality. In fact, he revealed that the suspect who did this to his wife was paroled just three weeks ago. Instead, the man, Simon, proposes that in exchange for a favour from Will in the future, Simon will arrange for someone to make Hodge (the suspect) pay for what he did to Laura. This will save both Laura and Will from the undue suffering that a trial may bring. He claims they are just a few citizens seeking justice and are tired of watching the city ‘go to hell’.

Will consents to the deal and a few hours later, Hodge is killed. A picture of Hodge’s body and the necklace that Will gave his wife as an anniversary present was sent to him as proof. The next morning, when Laura wakes, Will told her that the police found her rapist, dead, that he committed suicide. A few days later, Will and Laura go home and they struggle to find normalcy in their lives once again.

Six months later, the couple is seen still struggling to get over the incident. Laura always makes sure that Will lock the door when he comes in and asked if she can have a gun but Will won’t agree to it. Instead, Laura takes gun shooting lessons and buys pepper spray. Then, one night while he and Laura were playing billiards, Simon contacts him and asks him to follow a woman and her two kids to the zoo and look out for a man. Then, if Will sees the man, he should call a number attached to the picture immediately. Will agrees thinking this might be the favour that Simon wants in exchange for their ‘taking care’ of the guy who raped his wife.

But it seems the ‘favor’ does not end there as Simon in fact wanted him to kill the guy since he is a sex offender. At first, Will declines but Simon harasses him even at school and approaches while having dinner with his wife so he had no choice but to obey. Simon instructs Will to kill the man while he passes by a pedestrian walkway under a high overpass by accidentally bumping him to make it look like a suicide. However, instead of killing the man, he decides to talk to him and ask him about Simon. But the man, already paranoid, tries to escape Will and throws his bike at him, they struggle and the man falls off the walkway despite Will trying to save him.

Will, obviously distraught, goes home and his wife asks him about her necklace which she finds in the trunk of his car. She leaves when he is unable to provide him a satisfying answer. Then two detectives arrive to arrest him for the murder of the man in the pedestrian walk since CCTV footage clearly placed him on the scene before the incident and then running after he fell. Will tried to tell them what happened but the two detectives don’t seem to believe what he says. The two detectives’ boss, Lt. Durgan, talks to Will alone and after a few questions, they play a game where Will must complete his sentences. The detective then asks, ‘the hungry rabbit...’ to which Will responds ‘jumps’. Durgan then sets Will free, tells him to walk out after ten seconds and to leave the city within twenty four hours or else they will kill him and make it look like a suicide.

Will escapes the precinct using the pass/ID provided for him by Durgan. Laura tries to talk to Will but was surprised when the detectives answer his phone. Instead of running, Will tries to search for answers and finds out that Alan Marsh, the guy he was sent to kill was not really a sex offender but a journalist for the New Orleans Post. He was investigating the ‘secret vigilante organization’ before his death and now Will knew why Simon wanted him dead. Will visits Laura at her rehearsal and tells her everything. She understood and admits if someone approached her that night, she would have done the same thing. Then, they see the cops who arrested Will at home so he had to leave. He advised her though not to go home and proceed instead to a hotel.

Will decides to attend the memorial for Allan held at a local pub to find out more about Allan’s ‘research/investigation’ into the organization. His friends admit that he was indeed investigating the secret group and was, in fact, about to make it public so they figured they killed him and made it look like a suicide. Then, Will saw Simon and his other gangster friends at the same pub looking for him so he runs away, jumping out onto the freeway and dodging cars. One of them, Scar, follows him but was killed after being hit by a truck.

Simon then tricks Laura into coming with them, telling her that they have new evidence to prove that Will is innocent. Inside the car, Laura asks about the new evidence and they evasively answer that they will show her at the police station. She realizes then that the two guys who have her are not really cops so she used pepper spray on them and escapes. Meanwhile, Will enters the newspaper office and searches at the desk of Allan Marsh to search where he kept his files on the investigation. He chances upon some paper receipts/notes on Allan’s desk then proceeds to a storage facility which he discovered that Allan uses. Inside he finds some discs containing all of Allan’s investigation files. He escapes just as a police car arrives after the watchman reported his presence there (he saw Will’s photo in the newspaper).

Will finds out more about the syndicate run by Simon and learns that Simon is out of control. He also finds out more people involved in the organization, including his friend, Jimmy. Will confronts Jimmy and admits he joined some fifteen years ago after his brother was murdered. He coerces Jimmy using a gun and learns that Simon’s real name is Eugene Cook. Will is confronted by someone who tried to kill him and called him a pedophile. He knew then that the man was forced by Simon to follow him. Will instead lets the man go but uses his cellphone to contact Simon and work out a trade - he will give a copy of the video from Allan’s investigation in exchange for the security footage that proves Will’s innocence in Allan’s murder.

The two agree to meet at the Superdome during a game of monster cars. Meanwhile, Jimmy and another of Cook’s henchmen (Cancer) kidnap Laura as a form of insurance. They meet by a hotdog stand and there Will learns that Laura is being held hostage at an abandoned mall next door. Will gives cook the DVD but decided that they both be killed so that he would not anymore be able to threaten their organization since what they do is too important. However, just as Laura was about to be shot, Jimmy shoots Cancer while Will pushes the other guy beside him down the escalator. Jimmy tells Cook that he promised not to hurt his friends and so Cook shoots Jimmy dead. Cook and Will struggle and they both fall down the escalator then as Cook was about to shoot Will, Laura fires shots straight into Cook’s chest. The two start to walk away until Lt. Durgan arrives and when he asked who killed Cook, Will respond that it was him. Durgan said however that it seemed the dead guys killed each other and that he never saw them both. Next scene shows news footage of Will having been cleared of the murder of Allan Marsh. Will decides to give Allan’s investigation to a senior reporter at the New Orleans Post but as the guy was leaving, he utters the phrase, ‘the hungry rabbit jumps, eh?’ signifying that he, too, belonged to the organization.

(photo grabbed from IMDB)

OYSTER BOY DINNER FOR MOTHER’S DAY

We left Cavite at around 4p.m. but thanks to our Aunt who knew her way in this part of the woods, we were able to reach Makati quite early at 5:30. We just helped in unloading some of my dad’s ‘camping gear’ and we got the chocolates pasalubong from my brother and we were off again this time to Cubao to spend Mother’s day with Mama. My brother decided to treat us all to dinner at Oyster Boy in Cubao and it truly was a delightful experience. I have long been a fan of eating oysters ever since our dad introduced us to them when we were young and even brought raw dirty ones that we helped him scrub clean before popping it in a grill and eating just like that - as fresh as can be - yummy!

But what I did not expect was for my kids, my daughter, included to also love oysters as much as my siblings and I do. Imagine that? She will just be turning ten next week and so it’s quite surprising that she’s pretty much into oysters too. I guess it’s the cheese that got her hooked. Well, I am so glad that there’s Oyster Boy, when we were younger, we had to wait when my dad would bring home some oysters from his trips to Cavite or Batangas but now whenever my kids would crave for it, there’s an easy go-to place right in the heart of Cubao. The place was just a bit dim for my liking, it is after all a drinking place and not really a family restaurant but hey, their oysters are great and that’s all that matters! The other food that we ate was also just as great! Here are some of the pics…

SUMMER GET-AWAY @ AMADEO, CAVITE

For this year, the venue for our family summer get-together was someplace new. We already visited Tagaytay during the Holy week and so this time for our kitakits (with my balikbayan brother), we shall be visiting another farm (like Lopez farms also in Cavite). The clan left on Saturday and our take-off point was at Papa’s condo in Makati at around 10:30 a.m. After a bit of taking a few wrong turns here and there, we finally reached the place at around 1 p.m. Expectedly, everyone was ravenously hungry and so after putting down our bags we ate lunch of kare-kare and binagoongan which tasted surprisingly good as it came from Sofitel. After we had our fill, we decided to look around and check out the place.

The place was quite huge and had so many plants. We learned later that the farm’s owners were in the business of landscaping. However, as expected with many plants, there would also be many insects and creatures that would proliferate…eeeww! My brother (a photography buff) decided to take pictures of the different creatures he encountered when he and his kids explored the place. When he returned, he told us that there was a murky looking pool at the bottom of the stone steps but further beyond the farm, the caretaker showed him a short path that would lead to a small waterfall with a cool lake underneath - just awesome! This all got us interested to go down and explore, too, and of course take a dip in the water, after all this would be my first time to see an actual true-blue waterfall!

Going to the falls was quite a bit tricky, one had to be careful as the wet soil and grass made the path quite slippery. So I guess my dad would not be able to go down here, huh. After a few moments, one would get to see a view of the falls, it was a bit small but still quite spectacular. I guess I am a true fan of waterfalls, they just never cease to amaze me which is why something even as small as this one has made me excited already. One thing for sure though the water underneath the falls was quite clear and very cold! But we had fun and played with my brother’s underwater camera so we made many fascinating shots!

The hubby, my son and Ating took turns jumping off a small cliff and into the cool water. It seemed quite fun as we pretty much had the place to ourselves, except for a few remaining locals. It was around 6 when we decided to go back up to the resthouse as it was time to cook dinner of inihaw pork and chicken. We took turns taking our bath then after a while we ate amidst the insects that we already saw earlier but this time around there were more and they were quite noisy too but it was a soothing kind of noise, one that is usually associated with country/provincial areas like this. After eating, the kids played cards and marveled at the different insects/creatures that abound while the adults settled in the common sala/sitting area to chat and surf the net.

The next day everyone was up early at around 7, the kids had breakfast and after playing around a bit in the gardens, they decided to take a dip in the waterfalls once again. But it was a good thing that I decided not to take a swim today because when we went down, there were so many people that they all looked like ducks swimming in a small pond. What made matters worse was that it rained last night and so the water looked dirty because of the mud that the waterfall brought down. But hey, the kids still enjoyed and that’s OK! I went back upstairs by 11 to take a bath in the CR and just relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of the place. My brother was with the kids anyway and so I am at ease knowing that he would watch over them well.

Before lunch, Auntie Chu and fam (daughter X and Tins) arrived and soon after the kids came up from swimming and were raring to eat another hearty lunch. This time, we decided to eat in another area of the resort because it had a longer table and could seat/accommodate all of us. The resort really is a pretty place and had many areas that did not have airconditioning (in fact, only the two bedrooms had aircon) so we all slept on the floors in Papa’s bedroom while Jon and Rachel took the other smaller bedroom. But the common living area and the eating area we had been using since yesterday was quite fresh and airy, there was a cool breeze wafting over us that it was quite OK even if we did not have aircon, just a ceiling fan to circulate the air was enough. Last night, the hubby (who slept outside in the hammock with my son and brother) said it grew quite cold and since he did not have a blanket, he slept inside the vehicle until morning.

In all, it was quite an enjoyable experience that we all had here at Amadeo, Cavite. The place was pretty cool and had a pool and waterfall. By the way, my brother said that the pool downstairs was not really so murky and ‘malumot’ as we thought all along. It was only like that because the floor tiles were made of green-colored stone but the water itself was flowing from a cold water spring and so it was clean. Also, the place was relaxing with its many nooks and crannies where one can just get lost in a quiet corner and sleep, pretty much like Lopez farms because they both did not have electricity and was just a place to unwind and forget the trappings of the modern world, even the internet. It was worthwhile to shut down on social media for the entire weekend, though I am not sure my kids agree with me here. I guess its main drawback was the proliferation of insects but those creatures notwithstanding it was one place where we could just relax, be ourselves and spend some time just talking, eating and bonding with the family.

FOUR DAYS OF FUN, FOOD AND FELLOWSHIP!

DAY 1 (Saturday, May 5)

Okay, I am fully awake, so definitely I am not dreaming. I really am going to Cebu! In fact, I was even surprised when I left this morning at 4:30 am and there wasn’t much traffic at all along EDSA and so I got to Papa’s house at 6:30 am (talk about excited!!!). We left for the airport a few minutes later and boarded the plane before ten am. We reached Cebu airport an hour later and my cuzin was very quite surprised when he saw me walking down towards the car beside my dad. Well, he’s not the only one, that’s for sure! At the airport, I was met with surprised but truly welcoming hugs from cousins, who also just arrived (but were on a different flight).

Our first stop is at an Uncle’s house in Mandaue City, formerly Lola’s house and the place I spent numerous summer vacations when I was younger. I was quite surprised to see that the place has definitely changed a lot! If I recall correctly, the last time I was here was during a PLCPD presscon/event in 2006 and at that time, the main house (Lola’s old home) had already been torn down to make way for a more modern bungalow. But their old house, situated at the right side of the compound, remained the same and it was there where I stayed for a night during that PLCPD trip to Cebu (in the former boys room).

The old house was also renovated to open up more space – the third bedroom was removed and became the receiving area while the other two bedrooms were renovated to accommodate more visitors. The kitchen remained in roughly the same place but had modern amenities replacing the conventional ones. The door to the main house was also changed. In fact, the entire wall was removed to become sliding glass doors making the place more bright and airy, truly a great improvement from their once dark and gloomy house.

After, unloading our bags in the room we went out to have lunch at another Uncle’s house next door. But unlike in olden times, when we can use the backdoor to easily get to their kitchen, I found that it had already been sealed off with a fence so we had to go out on the street to get to their house. It was OK since the good food that greeted us there more than made up for the short trip under the hot sun. I missed the original humba from Cebu moreso the one especially cooked by Auntie Yolly!

Oh God, I not only missed her homecooking, I missed her too and I felt she felt the same way in the way she hugged me tightly. I asked about her health and said sorry for not being able to come home for Uncle Dong’s funeral. She asked about my Mom (in a whisper, of course) and we all shared the good food that she prepared for our arrival –humba, chicken inasal, and arroz valenciana . Marichi, another cousin, was there (of course!) and she too was surprised to see me in Cebu coz she was the one who replied to my FB post that I wanted to go home and see Borbon! Afterwards, I went up to surprise Janice at the second floor of Uncle Dong’s house (their house was also renovated BTW, courtesy of Kuya Kooks!)

We rested a bit after our sumptuous meal then by 2pm, we decided to leave to check in at our resort – the Alegre Hotel. It was a one and a half hour drive going there and I am truly glad to have come with this vacation with my dad because otherwise, I would not have been able to visit a very pretty place like this! Just check out the gorgeous pics of the resort! I wish someday I would be able to take my children here as it is just so perfectly relaxing! I also wish we wouldn’t just be sleeping here since considering the schedule that we currently have, after our breakfast tomorrow we will be immediately leaving for Borbon and so we won’t have the time to explore the place and truly enjoy all the amenities they have to offer. Oh well, maybe we could still find the time in the next few days.

At around 6:30, after we rested a bit and had our fill taking pictures of our pretty cabana, we left once again for Borbon. At long last, after so many years I will finally get to see Borbon! My uncle’s retirement resort! But of course, I wasn’t able to take much pictures since it was already night-time and there isn’t really much to see, maybe tomorrow I would be able to appreciate everything that the place had to offer. Suffice it to say that we just spent the rest of the evening there - just chatting with the cuzins – they drank beer and MP lites, I just had coffee otherwise, I would be nodding off already since it was way past my bedtime of ten o’clock! We went home to Alegre resort at 11:30, so happy with the first day I spent back here in Cebu. I am sure tomorrow would be an even more fun day because it is D DAY! Sound asleep at 12:30 after texting the hubby and the kids goodnight!

DAY 2 (Sunday, May 6)

I was surprised to wake up at 6am this morning to find Papa already awake. When I slept last night he was still browsing in his laptop and he said he was finding it difficult to sleep (namamahay, so to speak). After we took our baths, we left to eat a buffet breakfast at the Pavilion – it was near the pool and was quite a picturesque place to eat. But sad to say though coz the view can’t make up for their lackluster food – well, it wasn’t really bad, but it wasn’t also good either and judging by the price of their buffet, I guess they should have offered something quite good. Well, here are some pics of what we ate.

We left the resort at around 9:30 and dropped by a nearby church to hear mass first before proceeding to Borbon. The mass ended at around 11 am, and when we got to Borbon there were already so many people milling about the grounds in different colored shirts. There was noisy music blaring in the background and the guests were being greeted by the young ones and made to answer some questions in a data sheet (to trace their lineage/ family tree). I immediately saw some people I recognize – the yellow-shirted ones from Lolo Paul’s clan, and so I went over to them to pay my respects. I also went over to kiss the hands of the other elders (orange-shirted ones from Tita Baby’s side of the family, the red ones who live next door to us in Mandaue city and the dark and light blue shirted relatives – FB acquaintances)

The first thing I did after acknowledging most of the relatives present was find a quiet nook with an electric fan or air conditioning because it was getting so freaking hot already. After a while, I got up and did my job – take photos and videos for Papa. I took snapshots after snap shots of various people (some I don’t even know) but they gamely smiled for the camera and when one of the oldies of the Marianita clan would be present (like Auntie B or some other aunt) they would introduce me to the rest of the group as Mesiong Jr’s daughter. Finally, the festivities began and everything started with a short prayer to the Lord, thanking him for the opportunity to bond together as a family and for the food we shall soon partake.

I do not really know what the arrangements were for the food – whether the families individually brought their own or they just contributed some money to a centralized committee and it is that committee that bought the food that we all shared but suffice it to say I was surprised that food was quite aplenty, even the drinks were overflowing. And of course, the Cebu festivities would be incomplete without the perennial fave – the lechon! I reckon there were about three whole pigs slaughtered just for this event! Everyone was satiated after a while, and some even found their own quiet resting places to catch a quick siesta after the furor had died down.

After the people have eaten their fill of the sumptuous food spread before us, the games began! Of course, I did everything I could to wiggle out of joining – like I’m too old for that game or that I’m the official videographer (but of course!) and so I contented myself just filming and watching and laughing at the antics of the gamers. Well, we tried our best but I guess our best wasn’t just good enough so we didn’t really win much of the games. Suffice it to say that we all had fun and it was a great bonding moment for us cuzins and also for those of us who do not really see each other regularly.

With the games finished, the group then settled down on the grass to listen to some band music, the band was brought by a group of relatives (the white shirts) since one of the band members belong to their clan, oooh, I just wish my brother was here and Dian too so they could show their talents! By then, it was already about 4 pm and so the groups gathered around for some group picture-taking and we each had our turn at the tarp. The pic-taking was quite a raucous affair but fun!

In all, I guess everyone had fun and went home to their respective places feeling quite happy and satisfied at how the reunion went. We stayed on with a few other clans for dinner and the sky lanterns/prayer-wishes for the departed souls portion. After eating and of course, more drinking, the group strayed on to do their fave past-time – singing! With a bit of dancing! I was even surprised to see Oboy and Mama C singing and dancing – first-time really! It was so much fun! Decided not to go home at the resort and instead stayed on at Borbon with the cousins all night! Can’t even recall if I got to sleep at all because I don’t know where I slept!Some others I saw slept in tents or just laid on the wooden benches that were all over the place.

DAY 3 (Monday, May 7)

Today is our last day at Alegre resort so we decided to hit the beach after eating breakfast and it was truly an enjoyable time. My dad swam with us cuzins while the Aunts lounged on the chairs to nap. When the other cuzins arrived, they said they already swam this morning at Borbon and that the kids had fun cliff jumping during high tide. Well, that would be something I would want to experience another time. But as for cliff-jumping? I don’t think that’s really for me! After our swim, we availed of the free massage and hair spa that the hotel provided and truly, it felt like heaven! I didn’t feel like getting up to leave anymore but we had to since our stay is only up to 1pm and so reluctantly we packed our bags and said our goodbyes to Alegre resort.

We travelled for two hours to Mandaue city and just made one stop at a pasalubong shopping center (forgot the name!) to buy the usual otap, uraro, etc. for our loved ones back in Manila. We rested a bit in our rooms at Oboy’s house and come dinner, we walked to the next door pension house for a scrumptious feast hosted by the Alang-alang branch of the clan. Every branch of the family had one representative to go up on stage to introduce the members of their own families that are present and for our side, it was Papa who went on stage. After that there was more singing and dancing and in a while, we decided to leave for Uncle Dong’s house where the cousins continued their own drinking/bonding session since it was quieter in their area. Kuya Ted arrived too and it was good seeing him again. Though I don’t really drink and couldn’t follow fully their Visayan conversation, I stayed on to bond with these people whom I haven’t seen for such a long time.

DAY 4 (Tuesday, May 8)

Today is the day of the actual Mandaue fiesta and I got up early to savor the last day of my stay here in Cebu. I would have wanted to visit more places like Lolo and Lola’s grave but when cuzin Mike and I left in the morning, we had a difficult time getting a ride into the city itself because all the roads are blocked because of the parade and the fiesta, so my plans to go to the cemetery went pfffft! Well I sure hope Lolo and Lola would understand, there will always be a next time! So, instead, Mike and I ate breakfast at a fave old hangout - Carlos Bachoy. But it wasn’t in the old spot it was before. The old restaurant is still there but Mike says the cook left and put up his own place and that’s where we went so we could savor the original bachoy of my childhood! Yummy!

For our fiesta lunch, we all trooped next door to Manang Yolly’s house and ate the food they have prepared - shrimp, calamares, empanada, fresh lumpia, morcon, humba, fresh mangoes, watermelon, and of course, the star of the day – the lechon cebu!

The past four days had been filled with so much fun, too much calorific food but most of all with good times of fellowship with long-missed relatives. True, I missed my kids and the hubby but I would never exchange the time I spent these past four days since they were moments I would cherish for a lifetime. I wish the time would come when I could take my family here to savor what a real Cebu fiesta feels like – savor its decadent flavors and languor in Cebu’s magnificent beaches! I know the language barrier somehow makes them hesitate, but they would soon see that despite not knowing anyone and how to talk with them, Cebuanos are truly very warm and accommodating and can make them feel welcome in their homes anytime. I just hope that day would come soon. Goodbye for now Cebu, till next time!

SURPRISE…SURPRISE…I’M GOING TO CEBU!

I got a surprising (but still very welcome!) text from Tita E around lunchtime today asking me if I wanted to go to Cebu!?!? And my initial reaction was - are you F%$#! kidding me???? Of course, I want to go! Who wouldn’t!!! If you had read my previous FB posts, you would know how much I had wanted to go to the reunion and visit Borbon once and for all but my budget just couldn’t cut it. If I remember correctly, my last post to my brother was one of poignancy – wishing that I could go and yet knowing that I can’t because enrolment is just around the corner.

So when her text came, it felt like Santa, my fairy godmother and the Almighty God in heaven all conspired to make my wish come true! And so expectedly I said yes! Even yes please! It seems someone who initially planned to go with them backed out at the last minute and so rather than letting the ticket go to waste they decided to just let someone else take her place. Of course, I needed to do some last-minute maneuverings just to ensure that I could leave for Cebu on that plane. But given the small amount of time left I guess it is just understandable why they chose me.

I guess, this is just so heaven-sent and so the heck with not having any money! Anyway, I’ll be hitching a ride with my dad and sleeping, too, in their hotel room so I guess there really isn’t really much I need to worry about! I easily got the nod of my boss to file a leave of absence for Monday and Tuesday next week so all I need to worry about now is asking permission from my family. I guess it would be easy to get my hubby to agree but it’s the kids I’m really worried about. I’m dead sure they would want to come and it’s just sad that I can’t take them with me. Well, maybe next time coz it has been my dream to really take them there – my hometown of sorts and where I spent many memorable summers. Here’s hoping this trip would also be a memorable one for me.

CHOOSE - A movie review

I like horror movies but I am not such a huge fan of gory ones, the less blood I see the better but I guess it can’t be helped because horror and gore often come hand-in-hand so whether I like it or not I almost always end up watching horror movies with bloody scenes. Like this next movie that I recently watched, it is not exactly a horror film like Ju-on or The Ring but more a suspense thriller / serial killer on the loose type (reviews liken it to Seven and Saw but since I haven’t watched both films yet, I guess I couldn’t really make the comparison).

The movie starts with a family falling victim to a sadistic killer who enters their house and makes a teenage girl choose between killing her mother or her father otherwise the killer kills all of them. The perpetrator is masked, has a menacing voice and uses a bloody timer. But what’s even worse is that the killer makes the girl kill her own father. The film then proceeds to introduce the main protagonists – journalist student Fiona who lives alone in an apartment. She is first shown in a shower scene reminiscent of Pscyho but thankfully, the killer does not make an appearance just yet and there is not much nudity either in this film unlike in other horror films so I guess it is meant to be viewed by even young audiences.

Fiona’s father is next introduced as a cop who tries to pacify his daughter who gets freaked by the thought that someone entered her apartment while she was in the shower. The movie also reminisces about Fiona’s past and establishes that her mom killed herself in a hotel, her suicide note is shown and in it the word choice is mentioned. This makes Fiona think twice if her mom was also a victim of this so-called serial killer. And so she starts to investigate (she is a reporter, after all).

The next scenes show the succeeding victims of the serial killer – first, is a pianist who was made to choose between his fingers and his hearing. Then, surprisingly, Fiona gets a chat/message from the serial killer that seemed to insinuate that her mom’s death may not, in fact, be a suicide. The next victim is a bitch model who is made to choose between her beauty and her eyes. Afterwards, Fiona starts to investigate and her amateurish efforts make her a better investigator than her dad since she is able to track down a hotel room where the serial killer had apparently stayed in (judging from the symbol she found in the bathroom mirror)

So Fiona decides to do more research on Choice Therapy as it seems to be a recurring theme in all the murders conducted so far. But when she tries looking for reference books in the library, she can’t find any of the books listed and so she was surprised upon returning to her desk to find the books she was looking for on her chair. But when she tries to check out the books in the counter, the librarian says the books do not belong to them. She tries (with the help of another friend) to figure out where the books came from. They eventually trace it to an already closed-down juvenile facility and Fiona reveals what she knows to her father to aid in their investigation. His dad doesn’t want her to be involved but Fiona says she doesn’t seem to have a choice since the killer chose to involve her.

Father and daughter next visit a doctor-psychiatrist specializing in choice therapy and who was once involved in an experiment in Milburne Juvenile facility. He gives them some recorded tapes of the children he studied in Milburne and the two leave, hoping to find the identity of the killer in those tapes. The entire investigating team watches the tapes and they are already tired until they get to the last boy in the tapes and realized that they have found THE ONE - because all the loose ends tie up. The boy named Nathan Jones is an orphan, adopted by the musician (that had his fingers cut off) and who allegedly molested the boy. Next, he was adopted by another family, with the daughter who later on became the model (who had her eyes gouged out). He stayed with this family for only two years because the girl allegedly was raped by the boy.

The police search the boy’s last known residence and they are greeted by an unmistakable stench from the blood and different body parts that can be found all over the house. They find the decomposing body of Dr. Pendleton (the doctor-psychiatrist from Milburne) and from the photos they find in his bedroom, the investigators surmise that the sheriff (Fiona’s dad) is the one next in line to be killed.

Meanwhile, the killer contacts Fiona and tells her there is something she needs to know about her mother’s death but she must come alone. The sheriff tries to contact Fiona but is victimized by the killer and put to sleep. Fiona reaches Milburne and she is taken to Isolation Room number 17 (which explains the serial killer’s chat name – ISO 17) and when Fiona gets gassed, she is taken to a hotel room, apparently the same one where Fiona’s mother died.

The killer eventually reveals that the he and Fiona are siblings with the same mother but different fathers and Fiona’s father made their mom choose to give him up for adoption because he doesn’t want to bring up another man’s child. He revealed too, that Fiona’s mom chose to kill herself so that Fiona may live. Then, the killer shows Fiona her father badly beaten up, and all black and blue. The killer puts a plastic bag over the sheriff’s head and proceeds to kill him until Fiona breaks loose from her bonds and gives the killer a whack on the head. But she is too late because her dad is dead. Then, when the killer attempts to get up, she pummels his head repeatedly with a gun.

But I guess I have to agree with all the reviews made on the film – it doesn’t have a good ending it was a bit confusing even. But I do like the storyline and though the story was a bit slow in some parts, it was greatly shot and had just the right amount of cinematic effect. Would I recommend this film – well, it depends if you’re looking for a Grade A horror film or a suspense thriller, this would not be for you. But if you just need to pass the time and be entertained in the meantime, then this movie might just give you that.

FINALLY MY NEW CABINET…YIPEE!

Finally, after more than two months my cabinet is finished! He started doing it on the last week of February after he finished doing my daughter’s lavender cabinet but as I already stated in a previous blog, he decided to change its specifications because he was fearful that we may not be able to bring it up the stairs (since we have such a narrow flight of stairs). Then, he was undecided on whether to use painting or dark wood laminate that we bought at ACE, until he lastly decided to just paint it black, like what I originally wanted! And finally, after two months of waiting, my cabinet is finished!

So, today he brought the cabinet up to the room (with a nephew’s help, of course) and I was finally able to start using it! I know it’s far from perfect because, there were some areas that weren’t very smooth and so the paint tended to chip in these areas that constantly bumped each other. But I am no perfectionist and I am just so happy that it’s finally done! One thing though, since this new cabinet is a tad smaller than the old one, I am having a difficult time making everything that used to fit inside the old cabinet into the new one. But then again the hubby promised to make me another wardrobe type closet like the one he made for the kids. So I guess I’ll have to wait a wee bit longer before I can have everything in its proper place.

And so as part of my efforts to redecorate the room (to blend with the new cabinet and also to lessen some of the frames I intend to display on top of my cabinet) I decided to hang my kids’ baby pictures. So that when I am in bed, I can always look up and see them as small babies - all cute and cuddly faces lit up with a smile, without a care in the world! I miss those babies not that I want to have new babies---definitely not! I just miss those times when they were still so cute and cuddly. Anyway, we could always adopt and borrow little nieces and nephews whenever we want to. Meantime, I will just have my own piece of heaven right here, on this wall.