Adik ka! (YouChangedMyLife)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Romantic Comedy

WARNING (to our common friends) - Do Not sit beside Dex Ravana when watching a romantic comedy flick, especially if it stars JohnLloyd Cruz; unless you are willing to have bruises from her pinching and slapping everytime she finds the scene "kakakilig."

First things first, JOHN LLOYD is more handsome in the first movie (A Very Special Love). I can totally blame him for the fact that he is bigger in this film compared to the one last year, but for being not as Preppy and Clean like in the first movie, he cannot be blamed. The story called for it. Perhaps another reason why he is not as strikingly GWAPO in you changed my life is that he had to share the screen with, I have to say, surprisingly, Pogi/Cute teen actor RAYVER (is he cruz also? i think). Rayver is pogi in the movie but maybe because his character helped him become quite attractive, I'm not sure if i'll continue to find him cute outside the movie.

Anyways, You Changed My Life, aside from Sarah's ridiculous wig, didn't disappoint me. Yes it can be extremely CHEESY to the point of wanting to puke in the many times Laida (sarah's character) and Miggy (JL) exchanged "mahal kita," but for some reason because it is the 2 of them (and i had Dex squeezing my left arm), you just end up laughing. And that Ring Tone of "Bebi Ko" was irritatingly funny. I can almost find myself entering the scene and joining their officemates bet on when they'll break up just so I can stop hearing the ringtone. It was really comical.

Comic timing among its many characters was great. Matet's hirit of "Adik ka!" after Laida told Miggy over the phone na "Mas mahal kita" was perfect and totally hilarious. I'm so going to use that line from now on - Adik ka! :) And I love Manang Vida's line during the love team's "cool off" period. You have to catch the movie to know the line because it was quite a nice surprise. Di ko inexpect yun! Corny pero it totally worked.

But Yes friends, the story is not new. The conflict is not something we haven't seen before in perhaps an episode of FLAMES (do you remember this show) or an angle between a loveteam in TGIS, GIMIK or GROWING UP (shiyet ang baduy ko talaga! hahaha). The gist of the story - moving on with their individual careers, one gets more busy than the other, less time to be with each other, who is putting more effort than the other, etc etc. But the movie had its new moments worth catching. And in a way it reminds you of how CORNY but CUTE it is to be IN LOVE (but it also reminds you why it is so NICE to be SINGLE and not have the pressures of being in a Relationship, joke!)

But I guess it is one of those rare movies that although you know how the story goes it still works because 1)the characters have something new in them, a bit of slight change that you didn't see in other movies before; 2) the actors just have that chemistry without even trying hard; and 3) the script was developed better, with just a very small twist and with lines that are quite in trend, lines we can relate to and use after we see the movie.

Go ahead watch it! :) It's No Slumdog Millionaire but you'll definitely feel light, happy and bubbly after watching it. One point for the Philippine Movie industry with this one! :)

Vain Change

My main goals for today were to hear mass for Ash Weds, ask Mang Dodong (our friendly neighborhood repairman) to come back and check the kitchen sink drip, and make sure to iron the clothes that have been due for ironing for 2 weeks already.

I heard the 12nn mass. The church wasn't full at first but during the Apostles Creed more and more people arrived and it was packed, similar to a 1030Sunday mass. I guess a lot took advantage of the lunch break. HIGHLIGHT was seeing AGOT ISIDRO during communion. Well as you know I'm a fan so that really caught my attention. She had no makeup on but looked beautiful as ever. I saw her again after the mass because they (she was with husband Manu) were standing near the door waiting to be in line for the ash. I took one last look and was truly amazed at how flawless she really is and how she surely doesn't look like she's in her mid40s already. I can only wish I can be as fit and fab as she is when I'm in my 40s.

Anyway! I looked for Mang Dodong around 2PM to call him back to Tet's condo to look at the sink. He wasn't around so I just left a message with Mang Roger to ask him to come whenever he is ready. Mang Dodong didn't come until around 330 which had major effects in my schedule for the day. I was hoping to be ironing clothes already by 4.

Mang Dodong did his own tinkering and there wasn't anything much I can do to help. I was thinking of ironing while he was fixing the sink, but didn't pursue it because I normally want to sing while I iron (hehehe). Instead I checked my email. He was taking so long that I decided to explore changing the look of my multiply site. I'm not good in CSS and not very familiar with color codes but played anyway.

THE RESULT! - quite a vain change. In as much as I want it to be more sophisticated, I just couldn't. And don't tease me for the colors, because honestly, I just randomly changed the old color codes I had and settled with this result. This look is actually NOT ME so if there's anyone who's an expert in designing CSS and would like to offer to make one for me, feel free to send me those codes. hehehe.

P.S. - i just finished ironing the clothes. mission/s accomplished!

We're Not Close

I used to only have friendster and a blogspot. When multiply wasn't so big yet, my bestfriend Renee invited me to me make one and I opened one for the purpose of being able to visit her multiply page. Then I realised, for a trigger happy person like me, multiply is a better choice. It was just way too easy to post pictures for my old friends to have a glimpse of my life away from my home town in Davao.  So i finally gave up my blogspot account.

I've never been really huge on Friendster. I rarely initiated inviting new friends, except if they were old friends I haven't talked to for ages or those who have moved to another country. I enjoyed uploading pictures, but I have semi-given it up when I decided to update my multiply more. I visit it every now and then because a good number of my Filipino friends abroad seem to still use it as a means of communication. Ella, my best friend who is now based in Canada would rather send me a message through friendster than email me, which I find quite weird, but its ok.

One mistake I realised with friendster is that because I was so polite 5 -6years ago I added a lot of people as "friends" even if they were mere acquaintances or they were simply my school mates in HS or college. In hindsight, I realised some of them rarely talked to me when we were in school, why did they add me? And after they've added me, it's not like they tried to make conversation and asked how I was and where was I. They are just there, floating around in my list of contacts and I made a mistake of making it so easy for them to know about my life. geezzz. 

A few months before I left for the UK last year, my friend Dex insisted I open a facebook account. She, along with a few more friends have invited me but I refused to make another account similar to friendster and multiply. She wasn't doing anything much one fine day in JESCOM and decided she'll make my account for me. It was Dex who first filled up my profile, she chose a picture of me from her files and even made up my initial password for facebook. Back then I only had about 10 friends in facebook, mostly from JESCOM too and it didn't really bother me.

In a way I thank Dex for FB because as soon as I was in the UK, people asked me if I did have an account. FB is a very good way to communicate for most of the people there. It was quite useful because there were times that we'd communicate more through FB about an event, rather than through text or calls.  I am most thankful for FB, especially now because I get the chance to see and talk to my global xchange teammates and to the youth I have become friends with in Newham. Its chat feature is also nice, because I get a chance to chat with friends I don't have YM addresses of.

Facebook's popularity is growing right now and I find a lot of those who were my friends from friendster having FB accounts. At first it was quite nice to be adding them as most were/are actually good friends of mine from school, from JVP, from GX or from previous work. And again the chat feature allows me to talk to some of my old HS classmates.

But the past couple of months, some people just kept on inviting me to be their friend and I seriously DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE. Some of them I have 4-5, even up to 12 common friends, but I still can't remember them. I asked a mutual friend once who this person is for example and she said Person X was her classmate before in a Science class. But this mutual friend is my friend from HS, who took up a different course in college and therefore Person X never became my classmate. So WHY IS SHE ADDING ME? Seriously? The least she can do if she wants to be friends with me is leave a message with her invitation to add me. A few I don't even have mutual friends with, they just happen to study in the same university as me. Did they really think I would add them just because of that? I'd add a person more if s/he was inviting me to join a CAUSE rather than add a random person who went to my school a couple of years before I did go there.

The nice person in me however doesn't have the heart to ignore those invites coming from people I have "mutual" friends with. I just don't want them to receive an email saying I ignored them, because to be ignored and to be rejected is quite hurtful. ( does anyone know if they do receive that kind of email when they get ignored?) So they remain there, as an invite in my box, but they've been there for about a month or so.

Not all my contacts here in Multiply (I'm glad I have managed to limit my contacts here in multiply to people I more or less really know.  I've met everyone here in person at one point in my life) or (in FB) are my Close Friends, but these are people I'm willing to share my stories with, my pictures with, my rants with, my views in life, politics&governance with, technically my life with - so I just don't add random people. It's too STALKERish/like (i don't think there's a word like this but nevermind), to be adding people you hardly know in a network that allows people to post pictures and blogs. Don't you think so? I think so.

I choose to Dance!

I was watching American Idol and more than a couple of people used this certain song for their main audition. I don't think I've ever heard it before. The lyrics are nice and thought they are worth sharing.I have a feeling that if Ate Anj doesn't know this yet, she'll be one of the firsts to like this too.
This is also in the spirit of being positive - attracting goodness and all the luck in the world. I hope we all always choose to dance (like no one is watching - mala ChristinaYang of Grey's Anatomy dance or Hugh Grant in Love Actually!).

---
I HOPE YOU DANCE
originally by: Lee Ann Womack
Ronan Keating has a cover

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....i hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin might mean taking chances but they're worth takin,
Lovin might be a mistake but its worth makin,
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to selling out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....i hope you dance.
I hope you dance....i hope you dance.
(time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that youll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

Dance....i hope you dance.
I hope you dance....i hope you dance.
I hope you dance....i hope you dance..

Not like Lightning

It can hit you over and over again.

I believe I was 22 or 23 and was busy doing freelance work but also feeling quite lost and undecided about life. Back then I was telling close friends that it must be early quarter life crisis hitting me. And I said fine, just hit me now so I can get over it. Then my friend Jay (halili) said that what I was feeling was merely an introduction, what I was feeling was nothing.  He said it will be nothing compared to when I hit 25 - worst when I wake up and realise I am already 26. By then (when I am 26), he said,  I can have the right to say that I am experiencing quarterlife crisis.

I am 26. No I am not feeling lost and undecided - although my self esteem is quite bruised. But the whole quarter life hit me in a different kind of way.

I read "Qualifications - 18-25 years old." Dang! I no longer fit that age bracket! Damn! (And I was so determined to win that $3,000 or $1,000 cash prize). Damn! It feels like I have been part of that age bracket forever and to not fit it anymore is a major reality check. Damn, Damn!

lol