i am woman, hear me rawr!

I am not a big fan of beauty contests or anything remotely involved in such events, but I realized after attending the launching of the Miss Earth Philippines’ advocacy project, Project Noel, last week that I was quite wrong in boxing beauty pageants and queens as simply another shallow attempt at exalting beauty.

Every year, the Miss Earth Philippines court works on an advocacy project to help promote awareness and programs that will care for the earth. This years project is a short film that emphasizes the importance of recycling and the impact each of us have on the environment with the wastes we produce daily. It is a very timely film because it brought home circumstances that actually happened not so long ago with Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

Albeit brief, the short film made me reflect on my behaviors. It was also a very entertaining approach  to spreading the word about climate change.I think this can be an effective medium for schools to use to encourage students to become more responsible stewards of the earth.

The film will be shown in SM Cinemas during their Green Screenings. Will post updates on schedules when I get them

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Every year like clockwork, I find myself in the same place, caught between eagerly anticipating my birthday and simultaneously dreading it. It’s not the getting old that gets to me, I think, but more of the idea of facing what it is I’ve been able to do with my life in the past year. Whether it’s been a good year or not, the uneasy feeling comes. And yes, to some degree, it brings with it it’s constant companion, loneliness. Even though I am surrounded by people I love and who love me back,  every time around this time of the year I am made painfully aware that I’m getting a year older and I have yet to turn to the next chapter in my life, which is settling down and starting a family. It’s also that I see my peers doing just that and I have yet to make progress. Even my so-called uncomplicated friend is gone, and now I see my world shrinking into my bedroom (unless a blogger event lures me out!). Like I said, it’s not the getting old that makes me feel bad, it’s that. Besides my civil status still remaining the same, it’s status quo too when it comes to my finances. Yup, I’m still spend-thrifty. Is that a word? Okay, okay….I’m still an impulsive shopaholic. I guess to some degree the impulsive-shoppingness in me comes as an off-shoot of the feelings or more succinctly, perceptions of loneliness that I feel *sigh*

Adding to these birthday blues is the fact that my birthday is a Monday and I have class then no fun.

I will try to end post with a happy note though. After all, it is my birthday and the other half of me looks forward to it…I wonder what project I can do for this year after last years autism awareness project. Project Ria perhaps???? Hehehehehe!!!!!

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A few days after my Coron trip earlier this month, I came across several calls for entries to the OVI contests hosted by several bloggers. I quickly scanned my set of photos taken from the trip and selected a few then sent it in to Maki of makieduardo.com.

A few days later, I got the great news! I was the Week 2 Travel DiscOVIries Winner!

I sent in my entry via my OVI email, which is one of the mechanics of the contest. As far as I know, there’s still a week or two in the contest run, but the themes change per week. Anyway, here was what I shared with Maki and why Coron is definitely a Must-Visit Travel DiscOVIry:

There are so many gorgeous places in the Philippines and I was lucky enough to be able to go to Coron, Palawan for a second time this year. This island, which is part of the Calamian group of islands, is definitely a Must-visit travel destination!

When in Coron, one must definitely go see Kayangan Lake. While the trek to the lake can be a bit physically demanding, it definitely is worth the effort. Half-way through your climb you can detour a bit to the left from the rest area where there is a cave and across, the fabulous view of the island. When you finally make it to the top, you will once again be greeted by serene blue waters and beautiful greens all around.

Island hopping is also a must-do in this must-visit travel destination. Snorkling in Siete Picados is amazing, but even more than that, there is an actual shipwreck of an old Japanese war ship in what the boatmen would call Skeleton Island. If you look close enough and the waters still, you can see the bow of the sunken ship from your banka.

For a beach bum like me, Coron is an island paradise.

Atuwayan beach is a little strip of beach near the shipwreck site and it is a perfect destination for a liesurely afternoon soak in the sun, or sea if you’d prefer. There are many other beaches to go to (last year I went to Banol Beach) but what I liked about Atuwayan is that it is really isolated and quiet. The water is so clear that even if you don’t have snorkels, you can see the fish swimming around you Be careful though as there are some sea urchins around.

Any trip to an island would not be complete without catching the sunset. Coron is definitely no exception. By the pier, all you can do is sit back and watch the amazing beauty of nature right in front of your eyes.

There are still so many other beautiful places in Coron, like the Twin Lagoon, Maquinit Lake and so much more, but this entry is longer than a blog post already Let me end with saying, however, that for me, Coron should be your next must-visit travel destination.

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Today just didn’t start right. I got up on the wrong side of bed, literally. You wanna know how? I turned the wrong way and my hand went right smack at the coffee mug placed nearby. Yup, hot coffee all over my bed by 6:30 this morning. Then I finally got up and bang….my head went right smack at the bed frame. Then….I made it to work in less than 20 minutes but my client was late for about an hour. And to top things off…I missed a yummy blogger event!!! Talk about a bad day, right? Well, thanks to Earth and her reminder of finding SHOEs daily (for those unaware, SHOEs are your Seven Heavens on Earth, or seven things you appreciate or are grateful for), I decided to go get some SHOEs and swat away this bad day.

So here’s my SHOE today:

1. I opened my email at 12:30 am and saw a note from Melo Villareal telling me I won an autographed Jessica Zafra book for this contest entry!

2. Getting to work in less than 20 minutes, despite all the stresses of the morning.

3. Coming home and taking a nap that really refreshed me.

4. No more psych eval backlogs!!! Yup, I caught up already I do have pending reports, but they’re still on track.

5. A nice assignment for my next POC article! It’s quite close to my heart as this was my project last year. Hopefully this could translate to a new project again. Hmmmm…..

6. Having time to blog

7. A good dinner: danggit from Coron, sinangag, egg and tomatoes. Yum! Oh…and a glass of Coke hehehe.

Well, those are my SHOEs today. Stresses not completely swatted away, but it’s definitely much better now!

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Last Wednesday, I finally bid my preschoolers farewell for the year and yes, summer’s here!!! Much as I love teaching, I really love the reprieve summer brings because a.) I don’t have to wake up so early and b.) I get to do a lot of lounging around with my Bubba, which I don’t often have time to do when there are classes.

For this summer, I hope to be able to take Bubba back to Laiya for our summer bonding trip.
yes, yan ang bonding namin. sana nga matuto na siya mag-picture para ako naman nasa shots!

Being part Labrador, he enjoys running around in vast open spaces and he also loves swimming in the water and he’s so cute when he does it!

I really hope we get to go do this soon, maybe for my birthday weekend? Anyway, this is my official entry to Earth’s Blogversary and  Thanksgiving Treat Giveaway where I hope to win a Neutrogena Wave for me and the Pawnaceal All Natural Paw Balm. These two items would be great after the beach trip, too, wouldn’t you think? The last time we went to the beach he ended up with cracked and sore paws because of the hot sand and the rocks that he climbed. I bet that balm would have been a great relief for him. Just take a look at how pitiful he looked then:

As for me, I’ve been dying to get a Neutrogena Wave since I first read about it in Rowena’s blog post a few months back. Earth, the host of this contest, also raved about it both in her blog and during our surfing trip last August. I have not yet gotten one because every time I go to Watson’s to try to get one, it’s either I don’t have enough spare cash for it or there was none. So, now that it’s summertime, I hope that I get this prize so I can care for my skin better and keep it moisturized and thoroughly clean so Bubba and I can continue to have great photo moments like this:

don’t we just look so relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated after our last beach adventure?

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For her blog anniversary, my blogger friend Rowena of  Animetric’s World pulled an Oprah with her “Animetric’s Favorite Things Year 1 Contest”. I love all her giveaways but of all, the one I’d love to win from her is one of the two Starbucks Clean and Green Tumblers that are up for grabs. Why this of all the other nice stuff? Well for one, I’m not called addicted to Starbucks for nothing right?

I would love to win this tumbler because for one, it would be a great addition to my growing collection. I have different themes in my collection, from local merchandise to City Mugs from countries I or my family and friends have traveled to, and even Holiday and Anniversary tumblers too!

Read the rest of this entry »

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The well-loved tale Alice in Wonderland goes 3D with the latest rendition of the old classic. Directed by the acclaimed Tim Burton, the tale weaves a masterful tale with amazing cinematography and eye-catching visuals. While it may come across as a little dark as compared to the fun and whimsical cartoon, the story is definitely captivating and entertaining. I never realized there was so much more to the story of Alice in Wonderland then there really is. I have to admit, however, that I don’t remember the original story as much anymore but I would recall certain characters and moments as I watched the film. I liked the fact that in this remake , Alice became an empowered and strong woman as she went through her journey in the Underland, which is reminiscent of Absalom’s own metamorphosis.

I loved the Mad Hatter, as played by Johnny Depp and the big-headed, head-chopping Red Queen as played by Helena Bonham Carter. These two artists are really masters at their crafts! I was a little thrown off by Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of the White Queen, mainly because she came off as a too “put-on” for me.

Escape from the summer heat by catching Alice in Wonderland in SM North EDSA IMAX or the SM Digital Theaters starting March 4,2010. Do try to catch it in 3D for a more enjoyable experience! Thank you so much to SM Cinemas and Disney for the special screening invites! Thanks too to Az of azraelcoladilla.com

After catching the movie, why not join the Alice in Wonderland cosplay contest on March 6, 2010 at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall? Get a chance to win any of the following prizes:  laptop, LCD monitor, and WOW Magic sing. Visit http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3559576&id=162557326858&comments&ref=mf to register.

To take home some cool movie merchandise, join Az’s Alice in Wonderland giveaway by clicking here!

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