Thank God

Joey has been discharged from the hospital, finally, after four days. I missed my SG flight and all my friends there; hopefully, there'll be another time.

And my parents and in laws finally pulled through. Hehe. In my last post, I was complaining about my mom not wanting to watch over Joey. Well, I figured she just didn't know how to go about the paperwork at the hospital so I told fafsy (that's my father). When they realized that if they don't volunteer for today's watch, Joey will have to go home with my in laws. And well, it's a competition between two sets of grandparents and naturally, my parents wanted Joey to go with them so fafsy took a day off.

Thank you to all the well wishers and to my family. :)

Superwoman

I really don't have time right now to blog, but I just got to write this down. Joey has been in the hospital since Monday night, Ipe is covering APEC in Singapore, and for today, I have two tax audits (diff. countries, natch), two tax computations and returns to finish, and a meeting.

I didn't want to leave Joey at the hospital; and I know he didn't want me to leave. He kept crying whenever I tell him I'll be gone for a few hours to go to work. I've been babysitting him since we brought him to the hospital, only logging in a few hours of work after he falls asleep. But having already missed two days, I had to come in today.

Needless to say, I've probably slept less than eight hours in the three nights since he was admitted. This morning, I had to go to Taguig at 3am, pick up some more clothes, wash his milk bottles, do the laundry, then take a bath before heading back to the hospital at 6am to wait for my mother in law so I can go to the office.

It's hard, juggling a lot of things. And I feel kind of annoyed by the fact that my own parents (or my mom, at least) couldn't even spare a day to watch Joey. They only come in at night when I need the least help. And when I asked if they can do hospital duty tomorrow while I work, my mother said she had to attend to her "quasi" business.

My in laws are more dependable in that regard - you can ask them almost anytime to babysit or come visit. My only gripe is that even my mother in law who had five kids, doesn't know how (or want to?) to clean up Joey after one of his frequent diarrhea episodes.

On top of this of course is my worry. I can't help but cry when they were putting the dextrose on Joey. And when I have to clean his poop; his butt cheeks very red already and his stomach hurting. The doctors still haven't given us any conclusive findings on what is causing Joey to poop like nine times a day. I was told this morning the lab test will be available this afternoon; hopefully, when I get there, I'll have something.

And, this is the third time Ipe and I had planned going to Singapore together but as bad luck would have it, also the third time unforeseen events prevented us. The first time was back in December 2007, when Ipe was covering ASEAN and I was en route to Jakarta; we figured we could meet up in Singapore for two days. Sadly, my trip was cancelled and he had to go there alone. The second time was April 2008; Joey's passport arrived two days after our supposed return to Manila.

Maybe Ipe and I should forget about going to SG together; something about that place keeps preventing us from going there. But that's the least of my concerns - Joey is at the top of every list. I hope he gets well.

This Is It: The King Of Pop Still Reigns

When I first heard he was having a series of concerts in London, I immediately computed how much it would cost me to go there and watch him. Seriously. I was willing to go on a hunger strike if it meant being in the same city as him. And when he died, I spent the weekend holding Kleenex and watching his videos on YouTube.

Five months after his untimely death, we still can't help shaking our heads in disbelief. For those of us who had spent our formative years listening to his timeless hits and dreaming of one day seeing him perform live, his death was the death of that dream.



The first thing I did after that seeming stupor over the shock with his death, I bought the Essential Michael Jackson CD. See, we had cassettes of his songs back at my parents' house but I only have MP3s of his songs in my laptop. I had to have real, tangible CD to hold. And I made Ipe promise we would watch the This Is It footage when it is finally shown.

True to his moniker, Michael still is King. I can't help but wonder at how he had managed to keep his voice in top condition - he sounded as good as when he sang Rock Your Body. And his moves are still THE MOVES. He could clearly outdance every single dancer on his team, notwithstanding the fact that they were all probably half his age. And he was such a perfectionist - the footage showing how hands on he is, from the dance step, to the beat, to the tempo, even to how each note should sound and how each number was supposed to not just look like, but how they should feel like for each member of the audience.

He didn't compromise - in one scene for Smooth Criminal, he didn't even want hand signals from his dancers to ruin the moment (he was supposed to turn around after a clip finishes on the screen behind him); he just said, I'm gonna feel that. And that was it.

I envy that back up singer who was to duet with him on I Just Can't Stop Loving You - with MJ guiding her not just on how she should sing but also how she should act on stage.

Performance-wise, I don't think MJ aged at all. Or if he did, he aged really well, like wine getting better as it gets older. He clearly had the whole concert planned right down to the minute details in his mind. And, even after singing for more than four decades, he still sounds so good. We can't say the same for Mariah or Madonna or Whitney or Celine. They all sound tired but MJ is as alive as he ever was.

However, it didn't escape my attention that he seemed to say "God bless you" an awful lot. I can't help but think that his mind is probably altered by all those drugs or whatever it was he was taking. He almost always seemed lost in his own world or speechless, or not making much sense at all. But then, he's a consummate artist and all artists have their quirks.

Whatever it is, it cannot be denied that even in death, MJ was larger than life. WhileMiley Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds opened bigger and is the current record holder for concert films at $65 million gross, MJ is surely on track to Beat It with $57.9 million on its second weekend. And you have to argue that Miley's was meant to be shown on theaters while MJ's was just a compilation of rehearsal footage.

Now, overseas, the battle is tilted already in MJ's favor, breaking the $100 million mark last week compared to Miley's $5.4 million overseas haul. How's that for a comeback? It just goes to show that no matter how weird he may have become, or misunderstood, MJ made some of the best music in our lifetime and we would all pay with our hard earned money to see and hear him even for one last time.

Shabu Shabu addiction

I know I said I'd go on a diet but how can I, when just being Ipe's wife means eating out a lot.

A few years ago, I would never be caught dead eating sushi or anything raw. Or anything Japanese for that matter. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I deal with Japanese on a daily basis in my previous assignment that I subconsciously avoid having to deal with them with my stomach as well. And I wasn't the type who would travel all the way to Malate for gastronomic pleasure.

But now, I couldn't say no to Shabu-shabu, this one from Lao Chan:

Dinner courtesy of birthday boy Yekyek (in light long sleeves):

* Shabu-shabu - directly means "swish-swish", a Japanese hot pot, where thinly sliced raw meat, vegetable and seafood are served and cooked in front of you in a hotpot.

Oh, and I should tell you - aside from the yummie cooking, the price doesn't hurt. We only paid around Php 2,500 for a group of ten for the almost eat-all-you-can shabu shabu and drinks.

Lao Chan is located in Malate, near Robinson's Place.

Review: 500 Days of Summer

You've seen it all before: boy meets girl, falls in love, have a huge fight, break-up, then get back together and live happily ever after. It's the formulaic magic behind every romantic comedy being shown nowadays. The twist here, though, is that while 500 Days of Summer is a love story, it does not end happily. Or, it doesn't have a conventional happy ending.

The film,told from the point of view of the Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is a narrative that goes back and forth as Tom remembers his 500 days with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). It follows a non-linear format and flashcards are shown before each sequence to mark which day it was in the love story.

Tom and Summer meet at a greeting card company where Tom works as a writer and Summer is the boss' new assistant. At first, Tom and his friends assume that Summer, with her girl next door good looks is a heartbreaker. However, as the days pass, Tom finds himself thinking often of what Summer is really like. He finally gets his chance while riding in their office elevator, when they both discover their mutual love for The Smiths after Summer overheard Tom's ipod playing.

From there, the two become inseparable - going on dates, parties, hanging out at home, and finally being intimate. All this with Summer constantly warning Tom that she's not looking for a relationship.

The two of them spent many months together until their first big fight - a guy offers to buy Summer a drink while the two of them are hanging out at a bar, and Tom, being the protective boyfriend, felt compelled to hit the guy after persistently pushing Summer.

It was never the same after that until they eventually break-up and Summer quits her job. Tom gets all depressed, then hopeful when Summer, thinking they could be friends again, invites him to a party at her house, only to spiral downwards after realizing the party was Summer's engagement party.

It took quite a while before Tom decides to turn his life around - he quit his job, started brushing up on his Architecture knowledge. One good advice he got unexpectedly came from his little sister, who told him "Tom, I know you think she was the one, but I don't. Next time you look back, I think you should look again"; How often that this rings true in real life, when there are telltale signs that things aren't working as well as we would like to think, we just aren't willing to accept it and would rather be oblivious.

It was also during this period that he finally got the closure he needed. It also had one of the most memorable quotes from the movie:

As he discusses aspects of their relationship and comments that Summer never wanted to be someone's girlfriend but she's now someone's wife, she replies: I just woke up one morning and I knew what I was never sure of with you.

Again, this sounds all too familiar. I remember many a time when friends would ask me how I knew Ipe was the one and I would give them the same answer: I just woke up one day and realized I want to spend my life with him. Strange but that's how it goes with love - you are never sure of it until you are sure. You just know.

Summer's reply wasn't slap in your face but it was a nonrebuttable proof that Summer was never into him. And it freed Tom enough for him to risk love again when he meets - Autumn.

The movie wasn't a tearduct exercise but it was neatly done and the storytelling offers a fresh take on an otherwise been there done that plot. And while it shifts back and forth in time, it doesn't skip a beat and lose you in the process. And Zooey was perfect - vintage beauty with just the right mix of innocence and sophistication and goofiness, and Joseph was nearly perfect as well as the puppy-eyed boyfriend.

The story doesn't sugarcoat either - it's a very realistic portrayal of relationship expectations.I particularly enjoyed the shot of Tom going up to Summer's apartment and the screen shows two different scenes - one of Tom's "expectations" of getting back with Summer and the other "reality," with him finding out that the party was for Summer's engagement.

Ipe and I both enjoyed the movie. It wasn't chick flick; it had enough smarts in it to actually make you think about relationships without being campy or cliche. We had varying opinions though on Summer. He thinks she was a mean girl who broke Tom's heart. True, Tom was really broken after the split but Summer never intended it to happen as she had been constantly reminding Tom that they weren't "together" together. Tom was probably hoping that with all the time they spent together, Summer was bound to change her beliefs and fall for him too.

In any case, the movie still had a happy ending. It was a story of boy meets girl, except that they lived happily ever after with somebody else.

A Little Vanity - Paul and Joe and Mac

A little known trivia about me is that I love to hoard makeup. I buy a new lipstick/liner or eyeshadow/liner practically every other month, and a new foundation and blush every three months or so. But not that I use any of them. In fact, I probably used each of them just once and them they all lay forgotten in my bulging cosmetics bag buried way deep in my closet.

I find lipsticks a bit thick and my lips (my entire skin actually) is too sensitive that I actually ended up with bleeding lips due to severe allergic reaction to Body Shop's lipstick. I used to love bodyshop - their body scrubs, cherry lip gloss, but sadly, the lipstick did it in for me. I had to endure a month of cracked, bleeding lips and taking three different kinds of pills and an ointment to treat my poor pucker.

The same for foundations. I'm just too busy to be bothered and I find myself looking too made up after I use them.

Then, the unexpected happened. My boss took me to a make-up sale and I ended up with a Paul and Joe face powder. And I got hooked. It gave my face a pearly translucence, like I was made of porcelain. Yet, no one can tell I had put it on.

Proof is that I used up this powder in less than six months! It's the first ever make up product I had used up so I went to Rustan's specifically to buy a refill. And also to look up their primer since I thought if their foundation is this good, so must their entire line, right?

Now, I'm a sucker for nude lips. Ever since I saw J Lo's lips in her Love Don't Cost a Thing video, I've been looking for the perfect shade, in vain. I discovered Smashbox while reading my Preview magazine and the next day, I went straight to the Beauty Bar to get it. I loved it, it had a chocolatey smell that isn't overpowering and it didn't feel guey. But it wasn't the right shade. So imagine my delight when the same day I went to Rustan's, the nice lady there decided to give me a make over and showed me the perfect nude lipstick I have been searching for - shade # 59.

I had to have it. Never mind that I didn't know if I would have allergic reactions And I did. Then, I went to Mac and bought their Lipglass in clear gloss. To top it all off, I also splurged on Mac's retractable lip brush.

The only thing I didn't buy is the blush on, since I still prefer cream to powder (Paul and Joe have only powder blush) and I prefer to mix Body Shop's creme blush with L'oreal's Mineral Bronzer. But, I love them all!

Too bad I broke my wallet with my splurge -- ok, so maybe my cosmetics purchase is much less than my wardrobe but for someone who doesn't really use much make-up, it's still a big deal. The primer costs Php 1,650, powder foundation Php 1,350, lipstick at Php 1,175, Mac Lipglass at Php 870 and the retractable lip brush at Php 1,500.

V-Amihan Fund Drive

Ok kids, here's how much we've raised so far for our fellow V-Amihans:

Your contributions have all been distributed and I can't tell you just how grateful our friends were. If you would like to give more, you know who to call. Thanks again!