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.