Quick Peek at my World

       I have read a lot of reviews about the movie 50 Shades of Grey even before the actual movie came out. Most of the reviews had talked about how bad it is and how people should not watch it because it’s immoral. There is even one review from a Psychiatrist that warns parents to not let their kids watch the movie because “There’s nothing grey about Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s all black.”          I have to admit, I have read the book. About 10 times actually. It’s not so much the BDSM that makes the book appealing for me. It’s the whole control thing. Personally, I think that no matter how strong-willed, assertive and independent a woman is. Deep inside herself there is a need to be taken care of, to be loved, to be protected, to be controlled.         Yes I strongly believe in Feminism, about gender-equality and empowering females to be as strong and productive as the male populace. People, no matter what the...

It's Mother's Day. And what best way to thank my Nanay and my Tatay but by showing you what shaped me to be what I am today. I am a product of a middle-class family. And I am lucky enough to have gotten the best of both worlds. I can sleep in a hut and eat using my hands. I can dress up, stay in a plush hotel and eat at 5-star restaurants. I am comfortable being with a young mother with 12 kids who lives in a small, run-down, one-bedroom hut but can also act carefree and chic when I'm with my single "Sosyal" friends. I have been exposed to both worlds, the upper class who lives in nice big houses and the lower class living in the slums. I saw through the eyes of both worlds, I am a product of both... but I belong in none. We are considered a "middle-class" family. Both of my parents are teachers, one in the academe specializing in the English language, another as a musician teaching/conducting a band. I grew up with not too much and not too little....

Everywhere I see, there a news reports, pictures, videos and memes of Vhong Navarro and Boy Bulalo. For 2 weeks now my news feed is nothing but them. It’s become a circus… and it has irritated me to the point that I wanted to sit down and write what I think of it all. This is my point of view alone. The readers of my blog might not think and feel the same way that I do. But hey, this country is democratic. And we are entitled to our own opinions. There is just one question uppermost in my mind – Has this country stooped down so low that we have become stupid, blithering idiots? The news reports contains people that are getting stupider by the minute. Why do I say so? Let me explain that. One – Boy Bulalo and his quest for Bulalo Soup in a BAKERY. First, why would someone, ANYONE, ask for Bulalo Soup in a bakery? Even drunk people know that only bread is available in a Bakery. I take that back.. of course you can also get butter and maybe coffee there. But still, BULALO SOU...

It’s that time of the year again... The annual Town Fiesta brings back those memories that lay dormant for most of the year. Seeing all those bands, watching the colorful flags and the cute little girls twirling their bat ons, hearing the sound of the drums and the melodies of the assorted playing instruments… All of these make me long for the life that I once had – and the person that made it all possible. I was once part of all these. I started out as a cute little baton twirling majorette at the age of 10 years old. A bit late, unlike my siblings who started at the age of six, primarily because I was sickly and my Lola was overprotective. Then I moved on to playing the lyre for 2 years (which unlike my siblings, I was also not able to master because my hands were not fast enough) before graduating to the one I wanted most – a member of the Color Guard (Those pretty girls in front with short skirts and sexy outfits waving and twirling a colorful flag). Once a Color Guard, a...

I was lucky enough to find great friends. Back in 2006, Lhei Orante (now Jatap), Lovelle Dulatre and I met in Teletech Cainta's New Hire Orientation. We clicked and stayed friends since then. Unfortunately, we each have to follow our own paths in life. Lhei eventually moved to Teletech's Bacoor Site and later on to another company while Love and I stayed together in Cainta until 2010. After which, we moved to Sutherland and stayed there until end of 2012. While in Sutherland, we also met another very dear friend, Cha Cid. Today Lhei and he husband is working in Dell Libis, Cha in Hinduja Libis, me in GXS Makati and Love is bumming at her house in Cainta. We met one day and decided to get together this summer to renew our friendship and catch up on each other's lives. But how do we plan a trip for 5 very busy people, with differing schedules and who works and lives very far apart? So, the planning began... Lhei found this deal in Ensogo for a 3 days/ 2 nights packag...

On the raised platform: Irineo "Sir Bobot" Carritero Every day I see him walk with his back straight and his head held up high. I watch as he marches to the beat of any band that passes by our house, his feet never missing a beat. I notice how he would tap his feet when he hears a drum being played, hum or dance at the sound of a song he likes and tap his fingers in time with the music playing. I see him stand up in front of the band and conduct it like a true blooded bandmaster. And in him, I remember Sir Bobot. My son Ynnoh is the exact epitome of my father. He has this inborn love for music and a good ear that can hear a band playing from a mile away. We would watch the Drum and Bugle Corps practicing while he either conducts in front of the playing members or march his feet, correctly, behind them. He would watch TV and tap his feet or fingers in time with the music. He would sing the songs he hears, although not very articulately, but with correct tunes. Thin...

This is an original article I wrote and submitted to The Philippine Daily Inquirer Young Blood Section. It was published last September 11, 2003 on the Anniversary of the 9/11 attack in the US. I decided to reprint this in my blogs so that I can get more audience and more people will realize the plight of our public school students. School for Survivors (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Clerissa M. Carritero THINGS will never be the same again. Gone are the days when I can buy spaghetti for P5, pull off tricks without paying for them, run inside the class while the teacher is writing on the board and put on an innocent look whenever I do some naughty things. Now that I am 23, I can only look back at the happiest times of my life, meaning almost all the things I experienced during my high-school years.  Ever since I graduated, I have missed the things that I usually dreaded during those years. Gone are the homework and the assignments and the teachers from hell. But a...