TAT’s All, Folks!

Open to all bonafide Filipino students in Philippine colleges and universities. Details about the EU Whiz and the essay contest are available from http:www.delphl.ec.europa.eu, the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines (Phone 8595100) or from the Embassy of the Czech Republic (Phone 8111156).

 
Ms. Tatine G. Faylona
Political and Cultural Affairs Officer
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
26th floor Equitable PCI Bank Tower
8751 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City
Philippines
Phone                 +63.2.786.6606        
Fax +63.2.786.6600
Email man-pcz@minbuza.nl>

============================

2009 Europe Month’s Theme: Rizal Na, Europa Pa!
By THELMA GECOLEA 

JOSE RIZAL, the country’s national hero, was the unanimous choice of the European community in Manila when it has decided to adapt “Rizal Na, Europa Pa” as a special theme for the Europe Month’s celebrations this year in line with the European Year of Creativity and Innovation.
Nothing extra significant here, you might say, since after all, Jose Rizal embodies both creativity and innovation and Europe is, of course, one continent which has been close to his heart.

Having travelled intensively in Europe, Rizal was an expert in some European languages such as French, German, Greek, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, among many other languages and dialects.

On May 3, 1882, he travelled to Spain for his Licentiaturat in Medicine from Universidad Central de Madrid. Rizal also studied at the University of Paris and at the University of Heidelberg. In Berlin, he was inducted as a member of the Berlin Ethnological Society and the Berlin Anthropological Society.

In 1890, Rizal went to Brussels from Paris to prepare for the publication of his annotations of Antonio de Morga’s “Sucesos de la Islas Filipinas.”
Overall, Rizal is documented to have travelled extensively in nine European countries such as Austria, Belgium, Italy, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.

Rizal has almost become synonymous with Europe and Europe with Rizal. After all, Europe has been Rizal’s domain for many years before he came back to the Philippines. When these European links are mentioned, Rizal and his remarkable friendship with Czech friend Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt, a school principal in the town of Litomerice, now called the Czech Republic is often emphasized in history books and archives.
This special friendship inspired Ambassador Jaroslav Ludva, the Czech Republic’s envoy to the Philippines and whose embassy is representing the EU Presidency in the Philippines to spearhead the advocacy to relearn the values of Jose Rizal, together with Ambassador Alistair MacDonald through this year’s Europe Month celebrations dubbed “Rizal Na, Europa Pa.”
This friendship is one of the strongest links of the Czech Republic with the Philippines and with its national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, said Ambassador Ludva.

Professor Blumentritt was born in September 1853 in Prague and was a teacher and secondary principal. He was known to be an expert on the Philippines during his time and became a close friend of Rizal. He is also known to have translated Noli Me Tangere into German and is often credited for encouraging Rizal to write his two novels: Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Because of this great friendship, Ambassador Ludva has become a great fan of and an expert in Jose Rizal.
Ambassador Ludva can recite “Mi Ultimo Adios” by heart.
As a poet and artist himself, the envoy even did a Czech translation of the poem and his scripts were incorporated in a marker and situated in the Rizal Shrine, Fort Santiago on March 19, 2006. During this month, the ambassador also organised the first ever meeting of the Mayor of Calamba with the Mayor of Litomerice as these cities had sister agreement in 1974 but their respective officials never had the chance to meet until March, 2006.
Nine months after this occasion, Ambassador Ludva organised with the City Hall of Dapitan, a three-day Rizal festival including a seminar on Rizal and Blumentritt with the ambassador providing a lecture about Rizal and Litomerice

Ambassador Ludva explained that his passion for Rizal grew when he was Director of Asia and Pacific in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Czech Republic. Then Director Ludva at that time and Ambassador Carmelita Salas often bumped into each other and discussed about Rizal and Professor Blumentritt.

Today, Ambassador Ludva is a certified Knight Grand Officer of Rizal. And he is not just a knight in name as he is trying his best to bring back the spirit of Rizal not only in the Philippines but back in his home country, in the Czech Republic.

In this year’s Europe Month’s edition, the European community (led by both Ambassador Ludva and Ambassador MacDonald) is organising two Rizal-related and youth-oriented highlights, the EU Whiz and the essay contest, both with “Jose Rizal and Europa” as their theme.
Prizes of these two major contests (EU Whiz and Essay Contest) for the grand winners are trips to selected European Union countries courtesy of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France, and the Knights of Rizal. The European Community led by the EU Presidency, the Embassy of the Czech Republic, and the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines are organising the quizzes in coordination with the SM Mall of Asia and with support of Manila Bulletin. The awarding ceremony and the grand finals will be held on June 18 in the SM Mall of Asia.

Through these major contests, the lucky winners can get the opportunity to trek a la Jose Rizal as the three winners of the EU Whiz and the grand winner of the essay contest will visit European Union countries within this year. A bonus is the chance for the young EU and Rizal ‘experts’ to liaise with the Knights of Rizal from the Czech Republic where Professor Blumentritt came from.
Three regional champions from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, (Manila), University of Visayas (Visayas) and University of the Philippines (Mindanao) will vie for the grand finals. The essay contest, on the other hand, is open to all bonafide Filipino students in Philippine colleges and universities. (Details about the EU Whiz and the essay contest are available from http:www.delphl.ec.europa.eu, the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines (Phone 8595100) or from the Embassy of the Czech Republic ( Phone 8111156).

The Europe Month festivities opened with the “Bersong EuroPinoy”— “European Poetry Recital” on April 25 in Instituto Cervantes de Manila. Known Filipino writers including Edgar Maranan, Gémino H. Abad, Joel Toledo, Marjorie Evasco, Mookie Katigbak, and Ricky Ungria read literary pieces together with European diplomats led by no less than Czech Ambassador and poet Jaroslav Ludva.

A European Children’s festival dubbed “Lakbayin Natin ang EU” (Journey to EU) enabled Filipino children to experience a weeklong programme of children’s films, literature, storytelling, arts and crafts, and lots of merrymaking and fun from May 6-9 in Museo Pambata, Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

Last May 7, the awarding ceremony for Europe Ko To’s assemblage contest was held in Ayala Museum in Makati City. The Ayala Museum was a partner of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, the Philippine High School for the Arts, and the Los Baños National High School with the EU cultural group in Europe Ko To’s awarding ceremony and in the exhibition of the award-winning works of students from Los Baños, Laguna. The theme of this contest is the EU’s motto “Unity in Diversity.” The exhibition ran until May 14, 2009.

Far Eastern University in Manila joins Europe Month 2009’s celebrations for the first time by spearheading a choral contest in collaboration with the EU cultural group. The choral performances and competition were held on May 14 in FEU, Manila. A display of UNESCO Czech Monuments in the Czech Republic opened last May 14 with a seminar on heritage conservation by Architect Augusto Villalon.

Other activities are being organised by the EU Member States Embassies, EU cultural institutes and their respective partner organisations and institutions from the Philippines’ cultural sector.
The Europe Month festivities are presented by the European Union’s representatives in Manila, including the Embassies of the EU Member States (the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom), the European cultural institutes (Alliance Francaise, British Council, Goethe Institut, and Instituto Cervantes), and the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.

- end -

Dear all -

As events unfold in Mindanao, I join many Filipinos in feeling helpless
and in the dark at how violence escalated to an unconscionable degree.
The loss of lives and the violence that we see cannot and should not
continue. I hope that we take time to look at the issues and speak with
genuine stakeholders. Where lies Mindanao in our national
consciousness? How do we truly seek the path of peace and solidarity
with Muslims in Mindanao - they whose rich culture and heritage also
show us a glimpse of what it is to be Filipino?

Because of my recent sojourn in Mindanao and the work that I do on
electoral reform, many of you have asked me what is really happening
over there. As a reply, please allow me to share an interview aired on
ANC yesterday (url link and transcript below). This interview is with
Atty. Zainudin ‘Zen’ Malang, Executive Director of the Bangsamoro
Center for Law and Policy.

Hopefully, amidst the cacophony of voices, we begin to discern better
and appreciate in a more nuanced manner all the issues that Mindanao
faces. I’ll forward other statements and similar interviews as I also
try to discern with you how we can all do our part in keeping Mindanao
close to our hearts.

Sincerely,

Tatine

"Hope is the thing with feathers 
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all…"

================

http://abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=128716

    Malang: We might end up becoming the Darfur of southeast Asia
 

 
    ANC’s
Tony Velasquez interviewed on August 18, Zainudin Malang, executive
director of the Bangsamoro Center for Law and Policy, on the clashes
that have erupted in parts of Mindanao and on the prospects for peace
in the south. Malang has been a close observer of the peace process
with Muslim separatists.

Q. What was your expectation
after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain
(MOA-AD) in Malaysia, had it pushed through?

A. I was
expecting optimism on the ground, not what we are seeing here, not what
we saw today. I was expecting the complete opposite after they had
signed the MOA.

Q. Are these recent clashes in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte an offshoot of the failure to sign the MOA-AD?

A.
I cannot help but arrive at that conclusion. You know, there are only
two ways to resolve the conflict: either through military means or
through negotiations. And apparently, after the cancellation of the
signing of the MOA, the product of a dozen years of long and hard
bargaining on both sides, perhaps, there are armed groups who feel it
will already be hard to resolve the conflict by way of negotiations.

Q.
Do you think the government and military should have anticipated that
this would be the backlash from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF)?

A. I’m sure they’ve always been aware of the possibility of this happening. This situation is not new to them.

Q. Does it help the MILF if they undertake this kind of hostilities granted that they may have been frustrated?

A.
I have to go back to the sentiments on the ground, both civil society
as well as sentiments of people within the MILF as well as the other
revolutionary movement, the MNLF. You have to bear in mind that the
Mindanao peace process is three decades old. This started in 1976. The
feeling on the ground is that, they had this 1976 Tripoli agreement,
there was a 1996 peace agreement, but where did these end up? It ended
up in failed implementation. When the MILF leadership undertook
negotiations with the government, many in their ranks were already
asking: why negotiate with the government when all the past peace
agreements have never been implemented? So there’s always been
skepticism among the [MILF] ranks in the peace process. And then at
each stage of the peace process, each stage of the exploratory talks
and formal talks, there has always been good results that both the MILF
and government could present to their respective constituencies. But
after all of those hard bargaining, those long years of negotiations,
after they arrived at an agreement on how to resolve the conflict,
suddenly, the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was
blocked. So the skepticism that was present before is alive again. I
think that’s what we’re seeing now.

Q. Were you privy to the details of the MOA-AD that was to be signed in KL?

A.
There were several instances when I had attended very public forums
where members of the GRP [government of the Republic of the
Philippines] as well as members of the MILF gave the audience updates
on what was going on.

Q. What about the contents of the draft MOA-AD?

A.
We were given updates on what were the pending issues they discussed,
they had resolved. My friends in the Mindanao People’s Caucus, for
instance, organized several of these forums in Davao City , in Marawi
City , and these very public consultations. And I also recalled that
every time that the GRP and the MILF panels are about to meet, they
always announce, they make a public announcement that we are about to
meet.

Q. I guess the people back then should have already
known about the more contentious issues such as the resource sharing
agreement with the GRP-MILF, the inclusion of 700 barangays in an
expanded Bangsamoro homeland. All of these were made public.

A.
Some of these were made public. The forums I attended, these were
staggered. They occurred over time. So depending on what the status of
the negotiations at that time, that was what was divulged.

Q.
Sen. Mar Roxas and Frank Drilon actually have an initialed copy of the
MOA-AD, and they’re taking exceptions to several provisions there. For
example, that the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity can now enter into
separate treaties with foreign governments. And now, they’re saying
that that’s totally unheard of for an autonomous homeland, to have that
kind of sovereign power. Was that ever included in the consultations?

A.
I think they refer not to treaties or all kinds of treaties. They
referring to economic treaties, and this is not entirely unheard of.
This is the kind of arrangement that they have in Belgium . For
example, the Flemish region in Belgium is allowed to set up trade
missions or enter into economic treaties with other countries.

Q. Like Quebec in Canada .

A.
Yes, so let us bear in mind that the Philippines is not the only one
that has an internal conflict in the whole world. So maybe we should
learn at how this kind of problem has been tackled in other parts of
the world. So I think that’s what the GRP and the MILF panels have
borne in mind. And if I’m not mistaken, they’ve also mentioned Northern
Ireland , for example, when it comes to a need to reexamine the
Constitutional framework to resolve the conflict.

Q. It’s good you mentioned the Flemish territory in Belgium . But doesn’t it cause a lot of tension within Belgium ?

A.
The tension that I’ve heard in Belgium is actually being managed by
these sort of accommodations or arrangements. Because the Waloon region
[of Belgium] can always tell the Flemish, why go for separation when
you already enjoying these sovereign privileges? And I guess that’s
what both the GRP and MILF panels had in mind when they agreed on this
MOA-AD. I suppose what they were thinking was that, there would be no
use, for now, to secede because all of these genuine…sort of tools
would now be afforded or accorded to you rather than paper autonomy.

Q.
But look at what’s happening now, when you see the MILF acting in a
belligerent way, just because they’re frustrated, ,maybe this, to them,
hopefully a hiccup in the peace talks, and then they finally give up
all hope and resort to violence again. What does it say about giving a
group like this the kind of powers that are contained in a MOA-AD?
Isn’t it dangerous?

A. I will be frank with you. We ourselves
are finding it hard to pacify these armed forces. We need to appeal for
them to hold back, all the armed groups because, as they were saying,
‘We thought you said we should give negotiations a chance. We’ve been
talking already for 12 years. We’ve already faced two all-out
offensives already and then it ends up nowhere.’ We in civil society
are finding it hard to pacify these armed groups. And I’m not just
talking about the MILF, I’m also talking about the AFP. Our work is
made much harder when we hear about much-publicized statements from our
political leaders who say, if the MOA-AD is signed, there will be
bloodshed, which we find completely illogical. Because what they’re
saying is, if there’s a peace agreement, there won’t be peace. There
will not be any peace. Whereas we are saying, if there’s a peace
agreement, there will be peace.

Q. Let me play devil’s
advocate. If you say it’s hard to pacify these groups, what we’ve seen
is it’s the MILF that has been provoking these all-out wars. So it’s
the MILF that is more difficult to restrain than the AFP.

A. I
don’t want to take sides. I just want to say that when it comes to
military solutions…we hear so many people say now, it’s time to go all
out against the MILF. What I want to remind everyone is that every time
we adopt a military solution, it never works. Remember that in the
1970s, we were under martial law, and President Marcos, with all the
resources and powers he had in his hand, could not crush a hastily
organized rebel army with very little training, with no battlefield
experience, with very minimal equipment. And the military went against
them during martial law. Here we are, three decades later, they are far
more experienced, they have more equipment, what makes us think that
they cannot put up a fight? What I’m afraid of is, they fought for two
weeks in North Cotabato , we already have 160,000 internally-displaced
refugees, extrapolate then. Let’s assume they continue fighting for two
or three months. How many thousands or millions of refugees will we
have? Remember, in year 2000, we had one million internally-displaced
people, and these were World Bank and government figures.  In
comparison, Bosnia only had 600,000, East Timor only had 300,000. What
I’m trying to say is, if we do not deescalate the situation, we might
end up becoming the Darfur [in Sudan] of southeast Asia.

Q.
Right now, we have a Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of
Hostilities (CCCH). So far, we haven’t heard from it. If that committee
does its job, then it should defuse the situation.

A. I
remember one instance when I talked to a member of the CCCH. This was
about Cotabato. This was when a Civilian Volunteer Organization and the
MILF were fighting. The MILF were farmers in that area; the CVO members
were also farmers in the barangay. There was fighting and it was
reported to the Joint Ceasefire Committee. The committee came in and it
was told by the CVOs, "We don’t recognize any captain. We don’t
recognize any ceasefire committee." So, the problem is, the public in
Manila who don’t know any better, who are not immersed on the ground,
who don’t know what’s happening, it’s very easy for them to be
manipulated. It’s very easy for public opinion to be manipulated
nowadays. Because we know that in times of war, the first casualty is
truth. I would advise our friends in media to get a direct line to the
CCCH so we will know what’s really happening. Let’s not rely…our
sources of information should not depend on groups that are taking
advantage of the conflict. We have so many groups who feel that their
interests, whether economic or political, will be affected negatively
by the peace process. I’ve always said the reason why there’s still no
signing of a peace agreement is that….I’ve always said that if the
government panel, as well as the MILF panel were left on their own to
decide if they should sign the agreement, they would have done that two
years ago. They just couldn’t sign it because they’re afraid. There are
powerful economic and political forces who genuinely feel that their
interests, political and economic may be adversely affected by the
Mindanao peace process. Because we are talking here of returning the
ancestral domain of the Moros themselves. Now, let’s ask ourselves: who
are enjoying now the fruits of these ancestral domain? Who owns the
mineral rights? Who has tens of thousands of hectares per DENR records
in Mindanao ? How would you think they feel, now that the government is
about to return the ancestral domain back to the Moros?

Q. But were they consulted in the first place?

A.
If they had been consulted, what do you think they would say? Our
friends in Zamboanga are complaining, they’re saying they were not
consulted. But later, they said, they were. And they’ve said no.
Apparently, what they mean by consultation is, to them, they are
consulted if the government takes their position. In layman’s term,
when we ask, what do you think? It doesn’t necessarily mean that I
would have to adopt your position. But to them, they say that since
they have already expressed their views in a public forum, albeit
informally, their position is, the government should adopt their
position. The problem is, if you’re in the GRP or MILF panel, if you
try to accommodate everyone’s interest into this agreement, without
asking anyone to make sacrifices or compromises, we will never arrive
at any peace agreement. And what we saw today, it will continue to
grow.

Q. How can this be resolved? The President has already
ordered an all-out offensive. The military says it’s not going to stop
because it’s already got the upper hand. Even local officials say it’s
got to stop now. When do you think it’s going to stop?

A. I
myself am hoping everything dies down, everbody calms down. How is it
going to stop? There has to be…we have to show to everyone that there
is a big constituency for peace. As of now, what’s being given air
space and print space are the anti-MOA and the MILF. And both of them
are either saying, if there’s no MOA, there’s going to be war. Or if
there’s MOA, there’s going to be war. Right? Perhaps, it’s about time,
the silent majority, if there is really a silent majority in support of
the peace process, or the peaceful resolution of the conflict, maybe
now is the time, now more than ever is the time for us to come out and
say to everyone, say to these groups, say to those who would rather
resolve the conflict by armed means, ‘Wait, there’s a big constituency
in support of a peaceful resolution of whatever grievances, Bangsamoro
grievances you have there.’

Atty. Zainudin ‘Zen’ Malang, Executive Director of the Bangsamoro
Center for Law and Policy, may be reached through mobile +63 928
5000432, and email address <morolaw@yahoo.com> 


- END -

The Purplechickens recently launched their second independent album “Girls, Et Cetera.” Their first radio single off that album is “Patihulog,” one of the band members’ (Aldus) song for a friend (Grace) — hence this plug!

It’s a beautiful tagalong song whose title means “free fall.”

“Patihulog” is now playing on FM radio over at NU 107.5 and RJ 105.9. Please help us increase its airplay by voting for it! It’s only P2.50/text.

To vote for “Patihulog” on RJ Underground’s countdown, type in:

MSG RJUR VOTE PATIHULOG

and send it to 2959, for all networks. 

To vote for “Patihulog” on NU 107’s countdown, type in:

NUVOTE PATIHULOG

and send it to 29107, for all networks.

“Some of the best lyrics ever to grace a rock song.” – Luis Katigbak, rock critic and decorated fictionist

“Patihulog” (Girl in Church)
by The Purplechickens

Dila, tumutupi na ‘tila
umuurong sa hina;
at sa aking hinuha—

Nandiyan lang sa tabi’ng
aking hinihintay,
nagkubli.

May bakas ng lakas,
ngunit ‘di mailabas 
sa huli.

Hindi ko papayagan ‘to.
Pumikit ka’t magdasal,
ito ang patihulog ko.

“Ito ang patihulog ko.”
Ako’ng bahala sa iyo.

Sana’y hindi ka mabahala
sa tabas
at pilantik ng dila.

Habang ipinagtatanto,
Pumikit at nagdasal:
ito ang patihulog ko.

“Ito ang patihulog ko.”
Ako’ng bahala sa iyo.

Ito ang patihulog ko.
Ako’ng bahala sa iyo.

”Girls, Et Cetera” is a thematic album. Read the pulse.ph feature here http://www.pulse.ph/CMS/ViewPage.php?PostingId=192 and more about the band here http://thepurplechickens.multiply.com/

Barcino Gourmet, actually. But then there were six of us who gave it our personal stamp so whaddahey, it’s Barcino Six! Coming from a traffic snarl that was Edsa, I barely made it last Wednesday to Shangri-la where I caught up with Diane — fresh and sparkling from Ethiopia and an unexpectedly longer stay in Dubai (hmmm, was it cos she missed her plane?). Off we went to Barcino where the rest of the gang (writer Ginny, banker Rica, fashion designer Andrei, editor Glenn) was in-waiting but definitely not thirsty.

It’s been a while since I last visited Barcino and I’ve been looking forward to a plateful of cistorra but boohoo they ran out of stock. After a big abrazio and bisoux to all, we seriously got down to the business of delighting our palate with Spanish cuisine and imbibing their wine. This latter part I leave to Glenn’s expert handling as he commemorates our Barcino night in the following post…

"… It happened in Barcino in Julia Vargas, where we celebrated the homecoming of Diane Veloso, come back from her interesting trip to Ethiopia, of which details may not be divulged here. Tatine, Ginny, Rica, Andrei and moi partook of the delectable because not-too rich seafood paella (Spanish cooking, according to chef-in-the-making Ginny Mata, takes care not to overpower food with sauces and spices, and instead works to preserve the original and raw flavors of the ingredients), and the incredible tapas.

Tasting something for the first time is always a memorable experience, and one which succeeding samplings of the same food is measured against. So when the manchego (cheese), olives, cold cuts (bacon), and this other longganisa-tasting dish were served up with 500-peso wine, I promptly forgot about how far deep into my pockets I knew I was going to reach later on, and allowed myself to enjoy the good food.

Anyone with an aversion for cheese will change her mind after the manchego. Gourmet cheese isn’t too salty as in Che Vital, soft and non-sticky, but textured.

It helped that there was actually one cute Andalusian in the house, the part-owner I was told; and as one friend observed, almost all of the male patrons were not wanting in the looks department, as well. In a manner of speaking, good food was everywhere.

The red wine wasn’t bad at P500 either, full-bodied and rather strong, in view of the drunken stupor it induced in almost all of us– no, me. In spite of my inner protestations at the ghastly bill later on, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. They said this was the first time they saw me have so much fun.

Andrei was drop-dead magazine fasion-spread gorgeous as usual, and the old tongue of Rica’s was resurrected: naughty and bold. Ginny had to watch her drink because she had to drive, but did she love her cigar. Oh yes, they did not forget that one. After dinner, we transferred to the smoking area and lit the thin strawberry cigars as we sipped our wine, Sex and the City written all over the night. 

Some heaving texted ensued too, in vino veritas, but it wouldn’t be until morning when the embarrassment of smiling from ear to ear while doing so as pointed out by one perceptive friend would sink in. Truly, to eat and drink occassionally with friends because one is, not, to become, happy is my kind of bliss." 

Life gives you a boon, complete with a serene beach and a blue sky.

The place, Estrella Beach.

In Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, my mother’s hometown.

But who says beauty doesn’t also come in black and white?

Where the horizon stretches to forever.

And thoughts meander to places of remembrances.

Happiness, they say, is a liquid.

Waves of joy, I’d say, are the best liquid embrace of  infinity.

Echoes of purity.

Everything a semblance of things yet to come…

Life and its package of surprises.

It was a weekend of dallying about and playing with a nifty digicam that I grabbed at the last minute.

Have a look-see at what I call, at best, Attempts.

http://tatine.blogs.friendster.com/photos/attempts/

"It sucks to be me" and "the internet is for porn" are just some of the memorable and irreverent lyrics from Avenue Q –  a musical that recently hit the local stage.  Like the lives of Avenue Q’s residents, I had a quite unplanned weekend with different friends that culminated in watching within spitting distance of the performers. 

There’s nothing quite like the adventure of sailing by the no-plan zone on a weekend.  We had a Friday night sleep-over in a hotel suite where screaming at a B-movie was de rigeour, tarot card reading was unravelling and dinner was a feast.  The sala was a marvel — littered with our empty cups of hot chocolate (yum!), throw pillows here and there, and the comforter simply everywhere (aka, give me some please).

Saturday morning was buffet breakfast, intermittent wet and dry sauna — amidst guffaws — and then a dip at the hotel pool.  Sunday was for sleeping-in and getting bugged by a nephew to respect his salon appointment.  Ha! The guiltless aunt (moi) only gave in after finishing a trashy book. 

Sometimes life gets too comfortable when you plan it like there’s no tomorrow.  Other times it’s simply marvelous to just let go and say to the world, "bring it on!"

Front row seats, anyone?

Well I figured, maybe if I wrote about the stuff that I still need to write about, I’ll actually be able to write about them soon enough. A girl has got to be given these moments of wishful thinking! And excused for her redundancies. he he…

So what’s pending in my to-write-plate?

First, my March sojourn to Donsol, Sorsogon - that oh-so-sacred bonding with the famous whalesharks (butanding) - gentle creatures of the sea with old and new expat friends from France, Finland, Denmark, ok…I forget now the other countries.

Second, our family trip-cum-reunion in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Truly Asia…tra-la-la). My sister, all the way from Paris, attended a UNESCO seminar in Sri Lanka and met up with us in KL. Quite a post-Holy Week treat! And a most-welcome visit to my college batchmate and freshman year roomie, Mimi, and her cute kids!

Third, recent Mindanao trips to Jolo, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

I’m sure there’s more but can’t think anymore. Lunch beckons…