Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

In a few hours I'll be off to some remote island in the west coast of the peninsula. So I leave you this sad song from Gary V. Let your tears flow for this one. Reminiscence of the ghost of your Christmas past.

Or just enjoy this Jose Mari Chan classic with memories from your teens. You know, the school Christmas parties with Jollibee meals, exchange gifts wishing you don't get the picture frame. Hoping that your monito/monita was not your teacher. And yes the puto bumbong, bibingka and tsokolate after the "simbang ligaw" I mean simbang gabi.

But if you're into games like me. I'm sure you'll enjoy Ariel Rivera's Sana Ngayong Pasko with the Flyff twist.

Lastly, here's Sungha Jung wishing you a 메리 크리스마스!

Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat!

~ Jempres

Pushcart educator named CNN Hero of the Year

Efren Peñaflorida is "CNN Hero of the Year". Although i got the news just moments after it was announced last week, I've only just seen the awarding. Here's a script of his speech.

"Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry," Peñaflorida said upon accepting the honor. "Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.

"So to each and every person inside this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers ... you are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be."

Truly remarkable.

Everyone's a Hero

We need more heroes.
Vote for Efren Peñaflorida for the CNN Hero of the Year.
Read about him and his pushcart classes here.
Vote for him here.

Artwork by Mark Gosingtian.

Flowers for Cory

CoryAquino.ph

Sorbetero in Korea

Do you remember your mamang sorbetero? You know, those manongs going around your neighborhood selling what others call "dirty ice cream" in a pushcart similar to this one in the picture, only more colorful. They would let us know they're coming by ringing those hand-held bells. We would then get our scoops of good deliciousness for only just a few pesos. Sigh... Those are the times.
So I was so excited when I spotted this pushcart ice cream in Korea. I immediately run to her to purchase my scoops of deliciousness. This one is quite expensive though. You get a cone with 2 scoops for 1000 won, and the taste is a little disappointing. I'd rather get one of those ice cream cones from Lotteria or even Mcdonalds. But it's still fun seeing it though. And cute parasol.

My Korean language class

I've been studying Korean language these days. Probably harder than ever. I've got a couple of good books on Korean verbs and words. I also attend a Korean language class twice a week. In this class, there are about 15 or 16 of us, my classmates are from Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Uzbekistan and Yemen. There is only one other Filipina whose son incidentally goes to the same school with my daughter. Our 선생님 is a quite a good teacher who can also speak English and Chinese. Attending this class is very helpful for me as I get a lot of practice speaking in Korean. Though I'm quite disappointed that there aren't a lot of activities or tours that others have experienced in their classes.
We've already finished our book for this term, so this week, we are to take this long test of basic Korean expressions and greetings. In the book there is a list of greetings translated in different languages. I just find it kinda inconvenient that there isn't one in English. There's Filipino/Tagalog translation though. But I find it hard to use coz some of the translation's a bit off, reminds me of the 'Rainbow' mags. So I have to study every word of those expressions and translate them myself, and it's taking up a lot of time. But my husband thinks it's a good way though.

After this week, we are to take a long summer vacation from the class. I'm starting to look for other acticvities I can do for the summer. Probably some Korean cooking lessons or even knitting :-). Photography is also good but might be quite expensive. Have any tips?

Spring Break

Pardon my (very long) absence. Been a little under the weather. Too many things to do, too little time. With all the activities, I had to stop and take a break, a long one.
But I'm hoping to be back soon. For the summer fun.
In the meantime, just stop by and smell some flowers. .

Island Reef Job Finalist from Korea

Remember that Best Job in the World ads? The Tourism Queensland has announced the final 16 applicants for the Island Reef Job. The applicants who are from 15 different countries (2 from Australia) will travel to Hamilton Island to take part in an extensive interview process.

One of the finalist is from Korea. Kim Juweon or Jonathan Kim from Seoul is a Radio Host for the Arirang Radio. His campaign video was of the Aussie Golf promotion to Korean consumers. He showed how Korean golf-lovers enjoy golf in Korea- yeah, Screen Golf! According to his bio, he's also lived in Southern California and Texas. He does not only speak Korean and English but he's also fluent in Spanish. And he's kinda cute too. Here's his pic.

Most - The Bridge

I first saw this video on a friend's blog. It's from an Oscar nominated movie, Most (Czech for The Bridge). A very touching story of a father who has to sacrifice his son to save a lot of people. Sounds familiar? Well, it is so touching that I cry everytime I watch this video.

MOST The Bridge

Somehow it reminds me of John 3:16~ "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. " (NKJV)

Day in the Park

After bringing Soie to the school this morning, TW and I went to the park for a walk and to see some Cherry Blossoms. The park is crowded, mostly with students doing some community service (read- cleaning the park!). There's even one group of students doing a kind of demonstration march against smoking. TW thought they were trying to follow us and hold picket infront of him. Anyways, the cherry blossoms are beautiful. Not all of the trees are in full bloom though. We just took some pictures here and there. Just stayed a while and then decided to just check out the 문화센터 (Culture Center) nearby. This place is awesome. It has a sports center, theater, study rooms and library where you can also watch some movies and use the internet. The children's library is huge, but they just have a small collection of English books. They make up for it though, I saw a complete set of the Harry Potter series.

Here are some odd pictures we took.

I'm Now a YouTuber

So I just recently joined youtube. I finally registered for an account. Been watching videos on YouTube for so long that I didn't really feel the need to sign up. I thought that's only for those who upload videos. But then I started wanting to subscribe to certain channels. So here I am, officially a YouTuber. Anyways, one of my favorites among the 'youtube stars' is this Pinoy lip-synching duo Moymoy Palaboy. They are said to have garnered over 4 milliion hits and thousands of subscriptions all over the world. But their official youtube account has recently been suspended for~ guess what, yeah copyright issues. Anyways, here is a video of their new song (not lip-synched) 'Lumayo ka man sa Laklak' a sort of parody of the two songs Lumayo ka man sa akin and Laklak.

Mga Kababayan Ko

As I was browsing through some forum sites, somebody posted a topic about the death of Francis Magalona, I thought it was another one of those repugnant hoaxes that circulated some time last year. I was gonna give them a piece of my mind when I found out that it was actually true. It was announced by Vic Sotto on their noontime show on Friday. Couldn't really believe it.

I know he has leukemia and all but I felt a little pinch in my heart. You see I'm a huge Eat Bulaga loyal. Been watching it for more than a decade, maybe more. It has already been a part of my life. It was a habit turned custom. Kiko's death has also left a hole in my heart. I remember listening to his songs back in school. Some of them were even the first OPMs I ever learned. I admired him for being a proud Filipino. And letting the world hear how proud he is.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Here are some pics taken from his website:

Check here for a video of Saksi about Kiko's death from GMANews.TV

Valentine Date

No, we didn't go on a date. Come to think of it, we've never celebrated Heart's Day. I've never given him chocolate on a Valentine's Day just like the 'Korean Tradition'(though we give each other chocolates or candies all the time ). It is so ironic because we actually had our very first date on a valentine's Day several years back. I was an Office Assistant in a Korean-owned company. He was there to tour and check out hagwons as well. Every afternoon, he would always drop by my desk to talk. He's fluent in English so our conversations are always enjoyable. We talked about everything from music to books to even politics. We found out that we had a lot of things in common. Several weeks into these long conversations, I was rather surprised when he asked me out to be his Valentine's Date. I wasn't really attracted to him, but I said yes to the date. We scheduled our date on the Saturday after Valentine's. We agreed to just meet somewhere in this mall. But come exactly Feb. 14, he dropped by the office to ask me if we could just go out that day after my work. He said he didn't want to wait for Saturday. So after work, we went to a mall, roamed around, talked a lot, grabbed something to eat- I can't even remember what, probably pizza. He walked me back home, yeah we just walked, took us maybe an hour. We walked and talked more, about things we saw along the way, movies we have seen, about France and Ireland, anything, everything. The date was so simple but quite nice, nothing romantic, nothing cheesy. It wasn't even that memorable. But years after that, here we are- married, with a child going to grade school this year. We've never celebrated Valentine's nor anniversary, but once in a while we would go to a nice cafe or drive near the beach or lake, there we would have one of those long conversations. He'd sometimes give me gifts for no reason. He always says 'We don't need to celebrate every occasion but we also don't need any occasion to celebrate'.

Happy Valentine's Day Appa...

This is what my daughter said when she handed her handmade Valentine's Card and some chocolates to her father. So sweet hubby can't stop smiling. ^^

Beethoven Virus Location

While everybody is rushing to go to their hometowns, we decided to take a little trip to Gapyeong. We visited that cute little village Petit France. This is where they shot scenes for one of my favorite Korean drama Beethoven Virus. Although it was freezing cold, we were ecstatic going around the place and taking lots of pictures. Pose here and there. Reminiscing the scenes on my mind over and over again, kkk. I was stunned when I saw Kang Mae's office, there's nothing too grand about it but I guess you would feel the same if you're secretly in love with him.. kkkk.

There's a good view of the frozen Bukhan River from Petit France which I really love. Inside the little french village, there's some memorial hall, mini-theater where you can watch little prince, souvenir shop, a pretty French couryard and also some room you can rent if you want to experience staying in a French Village for a while.

The Best Job in the World Ever

Imagine just lazing around the island on the Great Barrier Reef for six months and getting paid a whopping AUD 150,000.(about USD100,000)! Seems like the best job? Well, it is.

I was browsing the net last night when I came across this very unique 'job ad'. It promises of the Best Job in the World Experience.The job is prettey easy. And pays too.
Here's some excerpts from the website.

The Best Job in the World – Island Caretaker Great Barrier Reef
Tourism Queensland is seeking applicants for the best job in the world! The role of Island Caretaker is a six-month contract, based on luxurious Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a live-in position with flexible working hours and key responsibilities include exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef to discover what the area has to offer. You’ll be required to report back on your adventures to Tourism Queensland headquarters in Brisbane (and the rest of the world) via weekly blogs, photo diary, video updates and ongoing media interviews. On offer is a unique opportunity to help promote the wondrous Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.
Other duties may include (but are not limited to)
Feed the fish - There are over 1,500 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t worry you won’t need to feed them all.
Clean the pool - The pool has an automatic filter, but if you happen to see a stray leaf floating on the surface it’s a great excuse to dive in and enjoy a few laps.
Collect the mail ? During your explorations, why not join the aerial postal service for a day? It’s a great opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the reef and islands.
About the job package
Living above the Great Barrier Reef is a pretty unique benefit, but the successful candidate will also be paid a salary package of AUD $150,000 for the six-month contract. You’ll receive return airfares from your nearest capital city (in your home country), accommodation and transport on Hamilton Island, travel insurance for the contract period, computer, internet, digital video and stills cameras access, plus travel to a number of the other Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The six-month contract commences 1stJuly 2009.

Just think about being on the Great Barrier Reef (yes Australia!) doing things most people can only dream about. Staying on a luxury three-bedroom property with pool, Nemo at your beck and call. And bloging too. That discover what the area has to offer probably means you have to do the 'hard work' of going swimming around the island, scuba diving, snorkelling, maybe take some photo stills and videos while you're down there (or should I say down under :-p) hiking and hopping around at least 25 island resorts. And did I say BLOGGING too?
You want that job? Apply here. I heard even someone from the Vatican City checked out the website.

Coffee Makes You See Ghosts

This article instantly caught my attention. You see, I'm a coffee drinker. I drink truckloads of coffee a day. Even more here in Korea, with all those different flavors of instant coffee available. Apparently, caffeine is linked to seeing ghosts. I read from skynews that a research from the University of Durham suggests that "people who drink more than seven cups of instant coffee a day have an increased tendency to hallucinate", "High caffeine users may even think they sense non-existent people", researchers say. Other experiences reported are seeing things that aren't there, hearing voices and sensing the presense of dead people. Oh my, this probably explains why I keep on seeing things on the corners of my eyes when I alone. Or the voices at night when the lights are off. Hehehe. Kidding aside, Dr Charles Fernyhough, the co-author of the study, pointed out that the research only showed an association between caffeine intake and hallucination proneness, not a causal link. Also other sources of caffeine are tea, chocolate, "pep" pills(aka stimulants) and energy drinks. You can read more here and here.