Thursday, September 30, 2010

LSS - hey soul sister

i love this song!



what a cool family, you are! :)

bon weekend!

Monday, September 27, 2010

repost: Annulment and bigamy

Annulment and bigamy by The Sassy Lawyer

Not to indulge in gossip but, as a lawyer, I don’t get it. If, as their oldest daughter claims and as the wife confirms, “The details of the annulment of Robin Padilla’s marriage to Liezl Sicangco in Australia are now being finalized,” then the marriages of both parties to their new partners are bigamous. And, consequently, null and void.

But weren’t they married in accordance with Shari’a Law where a man is allowed to have four wives so long as he can provide for all of them? Well, according to the second of the two linked articles above (the report is in Filipino), the Muslim marriage celebrated at the New Bilibid Prison was followed by a civil wedding. Civilly, for as long as a marriage remains valid, subsequent marriages contracted by either or both parties are deemed bigamous. So, it doesn’t matter if Robin Padilla marries Mariel Rodriquez a dozen times in different ceremonies. It would still be bigamy.

But the Indian marriage must be valid, you may say. Well, no. It does not dissolve the first valid marriage.

But they’ve been separated for years and years! Separation de facto does not automatically annul a civil marriage. The parties still have to go to court, file a petition for annulment and, only after a judicial declaration does the civil marriage end.

Personally, I don’t see the point in getting married if there is a cloud of illegitimacy hanging over the union. But, for some persons, it is the ceremony itself with the public exchange of vows rather than the legal status that counts. A simulation, no doubt, but comforting to go through anyway?

And, obviously, there are legal repercussions. Bigamy is a crime in the Philippines.

From the Revised Penal Code:

Art. 349. Bigamy. — The penalty of prision mayor shall be imposed upon any person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been legally dissolved…

So there. Why risk imprisonment when both Padilla and Sicangco want an annulment and it’s just a matter of waiting for the annulment to become finalized?

ahhhhhh, i love legal talk! :)

baby you can drive my honda

if every town has a symbol, saigon's would surely be the motorbike (they call them their hondas). more than 4 million of them fly (literally) along the streets, i swear the cars, trucks and buses avoid them like the plague!



here are some snapshots from my iphone of what they can do.



















i also saw hondas carrying steel, ducks, mineral water containers (yes, WITH water inside), and one driver holding a wreath of flowers (for a funeral ata) on the left hand while driving. talentado!

they also use them during siesta time. :)


pero teka, di ba bawal to? :S


of course, we can't leave saigon without trying it! :)


Friday, September 24, 2010

have you been eating well?

i love to research and read about healthy stuff (following what i find out is entirely a different story).

reposting here an article from www.eatingwell.com which makes a lot of sense. right?? :)

10 Food Rules You Should Follow

What should you eat?
With so many food choices available to us—from wholesome organic foods to supersized processed offerings—answering this question can be confusing. Add “expert" advice and grocery stores teeming with products plastered with health claims, and you may feel you need a guide just to choose breakfast cereal. Bestselling author Michael Pollan (pictured) cuts through this overload in his book "Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual" (Penguin). He distills 64 food rules to guide Americans away from the Western diet of processed “edible food-like substances” and toward diets that originated in traditional food cultures. Here we’ve highlighted 10 of our favorite Pollan food rules, selected because of the science that backs them as a guide for healthy eating.

Rule 1: Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
If you ask yourself, ‘What kind of food should I eat?’ Start with this as your answer. Numerous studies point to the benefits of a plant-based diet: improved blood pressure, decreased risk of heart disease, lowered cholesterol and better weight control.


Rule 2: Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.
At EatingWell we encourage sustainably raised choices when it comes to meat, poultry and seafood, both for our health and the health of the environment. The buyer’s guides and articles below will help guide you to the best choices.


Rule 3: Eat your colors.
Pollan’s advice: "The colors of many vegetables reflect the different antioxidant phytochemicals they contain...Many of these chemicals help protect against chronic diseases, but each in a slightly different way, so the best protection comes from a diet containing as many different phytochemicals as possible.”


Rule 4: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
Pollan’s advice: “Enjoy these treats as often as you’re willing to prepare them—chances are good it won’t be every day.”


Rule 5: The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.
Pollan’s advice: “Eat whole grains and minimize your consumption of white flour.”


Rule 6: Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.
Pollan says: “Processed food products dominate the center aisles of the store, while the cases of mostly fresh food—produce, meat and fish, dairy—line the walls. If you keep to the edges of the store you’ll be much more likely to wind up with real food in your shopping cart.”


Rule 7: Don’t overlook the oily little fishes.
If there’s one food you should be eating (and probably are not) it is the humble sardine. Sardines (Pacific, wild-caught) are one of the healthiest foods we can consume, according to health and environmental experts. These nutritional powerhouses are one of the best sources of omega-3 fats, with a whopping 1,950 mg/per 3 oz. (that’s more per serving than salmon, tuna or just about any other food) and they’re packed with vitamin D. If you’re trying sardines for the first time, or you just really want to learn to like them, here are a few recipes to stoke your sardine love.


Rule 8: Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.
Pollan says: “People who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than those of us eating a modern Western diet of processed foods.”

Rule 9: Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods.
Pollan says: “The bulk of the 500 calories Americans have added to their daily diet since 1980 (the start of the obesity epidemic) have come in the form of snack foods laden with salt, fat and sugar. If you are going to snack, try to limit yourself to fruits, vegetables and nuts.”


Rule 10: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.
Pollan says: “Labels list ingredients by weight and any product that has more sugar than other ingredients has too much sugar.” (For an exception to this rule, follow Pollan’s “treat treats as treats” philosophy.)

live, laugh, love! :)

Thursday, September 23, 2010

hooked

before it was CSI.



but grissom left.

then came the fox channel. everyday, at 10:40 pm, i am glued.


caught first on studio 23.


supervisory special agent was jason gideon (mandy patinkin).


after 2 seasons, they switched to david rossi (joe mantegna), but it's all good.


agent morgan is hot.


garcia is cool.


but i heart dr. reid.


and yes, i still watch the nonstop weekend marathon. :)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Free Steaks for September 19 birthday celebrants + "All-You-Can-Beef" for P420 at Alfredo's



Alfredo's Steaks marks its 42nd year with an eat-all-you-can beef carving buffet, and discounts on their bestsellers.

All Sundays of September, feast on the "All-You-Can-Beef" U.S. Roast Beef Carving Buffet for P420+. From the regular price of P690+, enjoy a spread that includes soup, salad, rice, vegetable dishes, pasta, chicken, pork or fish entree, and all-you-can eat U.S. Roast Beef carved on-the-spot.

Promo is valid for both lunch and dinner.

On September 17 and 18, get a free steak if your birthday is on September 19. Enjoy a regular 200-gram local Tenderloin steak that comes with complimentary soup and Salad of the Day.

Only driver's license or passport will be accepted as proof of birth date.
Celebrant must dine with at least 3 others (total bill exclusive of the free steak must reach P1,500++).
Limited to one (1) FREE steak per table.
Not valid with any other promo or discount.
Not convertible to cash.

Alfredo's Steaks is at Tomas Morato Ave. cor. Sct. de Guia and Dr. Lascano Sts., Quezon City. Tel. No. 374-3576.

Source: www.spot.ph

Monday, September 13, 2010

my first run

i have always wanted to join these running events. wanted but never attempted.

until now. i am joining the step out! AVON walk & run against breast cancer on 3 oct at the MOA grounds.

why? well, first of all, i am doing it for the cause. second, i am challenging myself that i am fit enough to run a 5k. mataas mag-ambisyon ano, di man lang nagsimula sa 3k. ah basta, gusto ko 5k. :) third, i want to be fit again. oh believe me, it's been a long time since i've hit the gym.

in my 20's (why does that sound like ages ago??), i was a permanent fixture in the gym. every day after work, i do my aerobics. the gym at paragon plaza was a short walking distance from my first place of work then. on weekends, i would go to ccp and join the aero classes there. yes, both saturdays and sundays. addict noh??



when i moved to sucat for my second job, i worked out in fitness first alabang. yup, everyday after work i'd commute to alabang and back. on weekends, i would meet up with girlfriends at the abs-cbn branch. aaahhh, i miss those days! we'd take several group exercise classes (spinning, les mills body jam, body combat and body pump GX), hit the sauna, and eat out after. no matter how much we ate, we'd rationalize that all those pounds will melt away the next time we work out. and somehow it did! ang papayat namin nun, promise! i was at my lightest, 113 lbs.

my gym buddies


for my third and current job, there was a gym in the building so i quit fitness first altogether. not to mention that i was in tipid mode already after investing in a condo. aba e i-compare mo ba naman ang php1,900 na monthly ko sa fitness versus php1,200 a year at the company gym! well, fitness has a lot more facilities and perks but i was also enjoying the aero classes and personalized weight training sessions (at no additional expense) at the company gym.

my officemates and i even found time to play badminton in the morning


medyo payat


i also got to try rowing at manila bay with the manila dragons team. ahh, what an exhilirating experience (never mind the murky, filthy waters and ugh! smell of the bay)! imagine getting up at 4am so we can be at the ccp grounds at 5am for the warm up exercises, then hit the waters at around 6am. we return to land at 7am, do some more stretching exercises and then go to work. yes, we did that during weekdays! i was so into it that i considered trying out for the philippine rowing team during one of their try outs but never did. oh well. then after i met my husband-to-be, he asked me not to row again as the boats were very unstable (yes, on several instances we almost capsized) and i don't know how to swim. :(

my oar and his buddies


then i got lazy. big time. visits to the gym became few and far between. to look best for my wedding, i thrived on fresh fruit shakes and tuna sandwiches on wheat. lost 25 lbs in 2 months (waistline was down to 26!!!), but not that i'd recommend it. i was very dessert-deprived then, as i have cut out all sweets from my diet. and everyone knows i love dessert. so, i gained everything back. and more. :)

26inches


now i am back to working out. how? i wake up early in the morning and put on my exercise videos (les mills body combat, usually). during weekends, k and i try to walk/run around the neighborhood (a round or two surely gets our hearts racing). and to prepare for the 5k run, my friend shared this guide The Couch to 5k in 9 weeks running program. funny, i have less than 3 weeks to get my mind and body in good, running condition. :)

me, aug 2010


i can do it. i can't wait for 3 oct. i am 388.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Step Out! AVON Walk & Run Against Breast Cancer, 3 Oct 2010



AVON is holding a Fun Run, “Step Out! AVON Walk & Run Against Breast Cancer” which is happening on October 3, 2010 at the SM Mall of Asia Open Grounds. Beneficiaries of the event are the Philippine General Hospital Breast Care Center and selected provincial hospitals.

This running event extends in Cagayan de Oro on October 10, 2010 and covers 3K walk and 5K run.

Step Out! AVON Walk & Run Against Breast Cancer
October 3, 2010 – SM Mall of Asia
October 10, 2010 – Cagayan de Oro
3K / 5K

WALK


RUN


Early Registration:
August 1 to September 30, 2010
Visit participating AVON locations: Taft, Shaw, Edsa, Makati Head Office and AVON Cagayan de Oro

Other Registration Venues for Manila Run Event:

R.O.X Bonifacio High Street, The Fort Taguig
From August 23 to August 27, 2010
From September 14 to September 18, 2010

Royal Sporting House, Glorietta 4 Makati City
From August 17 to August 22, 2010
From September 21 to September 26, 2010

Online Registration:

From August 1 to September 30,2010
http://www.avonkgbcphilippines.com

Thursday, September 9, 2010

for the love of desserts

like, seriously. :)









just ending the week on a (very) sweet note. :)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

21st Philippine Travel Mart, 3-5 September 2010 at the Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall

The 21st Philippine Travel Mart is being held from from 3-5 September 2010 at the Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall. Call the PTM Secretariat (+632)812-4513 for details.



source: http://www.philtoa.org

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Filipino today by Alex Lacson

After the August 23 hostage drama, there is just too much negativity about and against the Filipino.

“It is difficult to be a Filipino these days”, says a friend who works in Hongkong. “Nakakahiya tayo”, “Only in the Philippines” were some of the comments lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles received in her Facebook. There is this email supposedly written by a Dutch married to a Filipina, with 2 kids, making a litany of the supposed stupidity or idiocy of Filipinos in general. There was also this statement by Fermi Wong, founder of Unison HongKong, where she said – “Filipino maids have a very low status in our city”. Then there is this article from a certain Daniel Wagner of Huffington Post, wherein he said he sees nothing good in our country’s future.

Clearly, the hostage crisis has spawned another crisis – a crisis of faith in the Filipino, one that exists in the minds of a significant number of Filipinos and some quarters in the world.

It is important for us Filipinos to take stock of ourselves as a people – of who we truly are as a people. It is important that we remind ourselves who the Filipino really is, before our young children believe all this negativity that they hear and read about the Filipino.

We have to protect and defend the Filipino in each one of us.

The August 23 hostage fiasco is now part of us as Filipinos, it being part now of our country’s and world’s history. But that is not all that there is to the Filipino. Yes, we accept it as a failure on our part, a disappointment to HongKong, China and to the whole world.

But there is so much more about the Filipino.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, Hitler and his Nazi had killed more than 6 million Jews in Europe. But in 1939, when the Jews and their families were fleeing Europe at a time when several countries refused to open their doors to them, our Philippines did the highly risky and the unlikely –thru President Manuel L Quezon, we opened our country’s doors and our nation’s heart to the fleeing and persecuted Jews. Eventually, some 1,200 Jews and their families made it to Manila. Last 21 June 2010, or 70 years later, the first ever monument honoring Quezon and the Filipino nation for this “open door policy” was inaugurated on Israeli soil, at the 65-hectare Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon LeZion, Israel.

The Filipino heart is one of history’s biggest, one of the world’s rare jewels, and one of humanity’s greatest treasures.

In 2007, Baldomero M. Olivera, a Filipino, was chosen and awarded as the Scientist for the Year 2007 by Harvard University Foundation, for his work in neurotoxins which is produced by venomous cone snails commonly found in the tropical waters of Philippines. Olivera is a distinguished professor of biology at University of Utah, USA. The Scientist for the Year 2007 award was given to him in recognition to his outstanding contribution to science, particularly to molecular biology and groundbreaking work with conotoxins. The research conducted by Olivera’s group became the basis for the production of commercial drug called Prialt (generic name – Ziconotide), which is considered more effective than morphine and does not result in addiction.

The Filipino mind is one of the world’s best, one of humanity’s great assets.

The Filipino is capable of greatness, of making great sacrifices for the greater good of the least of our people. Josette Biyo is an example of this. Biyo has masteral and doctoral degress from one of the top universities in the Philippines – the De La Salle University (Taft, Manila) – where she used to teach rich college students and was paid well for it. But Dr Biyo left all that and all the glamour of Manila, and chose to teach in a far-away public school in a rural area in the province, receiving the salary of less than US$ 300 a month. When asked why she did that, she replied “but who will teach our children?” In recognition of the rarity of her kind, the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States honoured Dr Biyo a very rare honor – by naming a small and new-discovered planet in our galaxy as “Biyo”.

The Filipino is one of humanity’s best examples on the greatness of human spirit!

Efren Penaflorida was born to a father who worked as a tricycle driver and a mother who worked as laundrywoman. Through sheer determination and the help of other people, Penaflorida finished college. In 1997, Penaflorida and his friends formed a group that made pushcarts (kariton) and loaded them with books, pens, crayons, blackboard, clothes, jugs of water, and a Philippine flag. Then he and his group would go to the public cemetery, market and garbage dump sites in Cavite City – to teach street children with reading, math, basic literacy skills and values, to save them from illegal drugs and prevent them from joining gangs. Penaflorida and his group have been doing this for more than a decade. Last year, Penaflorida was chosen and awarded as CNN Hero for 2009.

Efren Penaflorida is one of the great human beings alive today. And he is a Filipino!

Nestor Suplico is yet another example of the Filipino’s nobility of spirit. Suplico was a taxi driver In New York. On 17 July 2004, Suplico drove 43 miles from New York City to Connecticut, USA to return the US$80,000 worth of jewelry (rare black pearls) to his passenger who forgot it at the back seat of his taxi. When his passenger offered to give him a reward, Suplico even refused the reward. He just asked to be reimbursed for his taxi fuel for his travel to Connecticut. At the time, Suplico was just earning $80 a day as a taxi driver. What do you call that? That’s honesty in its purest sense. That is decency most sublime. And it occurred in New York, the Big Apple City, where all kinds of snakes and sinners abound, and a place where – according to American novelist Sydney Sheldon – angels no longer descend. No wonder all New York newspapers called him “New York’s Most Honest Taxi Driver”. The New York City Government also held a ceremony to officially acknowledge his noble deed. The Philippine Senate passed a Resolution for giving honors to the Filipino people and our country.

In Singapore, Filipina Marites Perez-Galam, 33, a mother of four, found a wallet in a public toilet near the restaurant where she works as the head waitress found a wallet containing 16,000 Singaporean dollars (US $11,000). Maritess immediately handed the wallet to the restaurant manager of Imperial Herbal restaurant where she worked located in Vivo City Mall. The manager in turn reported the lost money to the mall’s management. It took the Indonesian woman less than two hours to claim her lost wallet intended for her son’s ear surgery that she and her husband saved for the medical treatment. Maritess refused the reward offered by the grateful owner and said it was the right thing to do.

The Filipina, in features and physical beauty, is one of the world’s most beautiful creatures! Look at this list – Gemma Cruz became the first Filipina to win Miss International in 1964; Gloria Diaz won as Miss Universe in 1969; Aurora Pijuan won Miss International in 1970; Margie Moran won Miss Universe in 1973; Evangeline Pascual was 1st runner up in Miss World 1974; Melanie Marquez was Miss International in 1979; Ruffa Gutierrez was 2nd runner up in Miss World 1993; Charlene Gonzalez was Miss Universe finalist in 1994; Mirriam Quiambao was Miss Universe 1st runner up in 1999; and last week, Venus Raj was 4th runner up in Miss Universe pageant.

I can cite more great Filipinos like Ramon Magsaysay, Ninoy Aquino, Leah Salonga, Manny Pacquaio, Paeng Nepomuceno, Tony Meloto, Joey Velasco, Juan Luna and Jose Rizal. For truly, there are many more great Filipinos who define who we are as a people and as a nation – each one of them is part of each one of us, for they are Filipinos like us, for they are part of our history as a people.

What we see and hear of the Filipino today is not all that there is about the Filipino. I believe that the Filipino is higher and greater than all these that we see and hear about the Filipino. God has beautiful story for us as a people. And the story that we see today is but a fleeting portion of that beautiful story that is yet to fully unfold before the eyes of our world.

So let’s rise as one people. Let’s pick up the pieces. Let’s ask for understanding and forgiveness for our failure. Let us also ask for space and time to correct our mistakes, so we can improve our system.

To all of you my fellow Filipinos, let’s keep on building the Filipino great and respectable in the eyes of our world – one story, two stories, three stories at a time – by your story, by my story, by your child’s story, by your story of excellence at work, by another Filipino’s honesty in dealing with others, by another Pinoy’s example of extreme sacrifice, by the faith in God we Filipinos are known for.

Every Filipino, wherever he or she maybe in the world today, is part of the solution. Each one of us is part of the answer. Every one of us is part of the hope we seek for our country. The Filipino will not become a world-class citizen unless we are able to build a world-class homeland in our Philippines.

We are a beautiful people. Let no one in the world take that beauty away from you. Let no one in the world take away that beauty away from any of your children! We just have to learn – very soon – to build a beautiful country for ourselves, with an honest and competent government in our midst.

Mga kababayan, after reading this, I ask you to do two things.

First, defend and protect the Filipino whenever you can, especially among your children. Fight all this negativity about the Filipino that is circulating in many parts of the world. Let us not allow this single incident define who the Filipino is, and who we are as a people. And second, demand for good leadership and good government from our leaders. Question both their actions and inaction; expose the follies of their policies and decisions. The only way we can perfect our system is by engaging it. The only way we can solve our problem, is by facing it, head on.

We are all builders of the beauty and greatness of the Filipino. We are the architects of our nation’s success.

To all the people of HK and China, especially the relatives of the victims, my family and I deeply mourn with the loss of your loved ones. Every life is precious. My family and I humbly ask for your understanding and forgiveness.

health is wealth

i hear people say, "life is too short, so why go on a diet??"

but when you see ladies and gents try to lose a lot of weight on the biggest loser, you know you can't just go on partying and pigging out all the time. do not lose yourself, it's not good!

so you are advised to eat in moderation. easy on the carbs, sweets, salt. too much protein is bad for you. have 5-8 servings of those green, leafy veggies. don't overcook - just broil, steam or grill (if you can). take fruits everyday, but easy on the sweet ones, like mango. drink a lot of water, like 12-16 glasses a day.

and don't forget to exercise at least 30-45 minutes a day. do 10,000 steps a day. get your heart pumping. and lest you want those muscles to ache, do at least 15 minutes of stretching prior to any physical activity.

stress? you have to avoid that too. diet and exercise will help deal with stress, but you have to manage it too. to hell with that deadline or impossible bosses/colleagues. if it's not a matter of life and death, leave it. stress kills, too.

oh boy, this is a lot of work than you thought!

but yes, you have to do it. not tomorrow, not later. now. heck, you should have done it yesterday.

if you want to live longer. if you want to enjoy life (and not fall sick every now and then, or go on drug maintenance for the rest of your days yikes!). if you would like to see your sons and daughters get married. if you want to play with your grandchildren. if you want to grow old together with the one you love, get him/her into healthy living too.

we all know it's easier said than done. i used to live healthier, now i'm just plain lazy. :(

i got a surprise wake up call a month ago, and boy did it worry me. i don't know if my lifestlye had to do with it, but we're sure glad the result was a negative. God is good, all the time. :)

it's time to move it, move it. let's start small. just like today, i had oatmeal (instead of rice, hotdogs and eggs) for breakfast. lunch was a piece of bread with dip, caprese mozzarella buffalo, salad (no cream dressing), 2 slices of pizza (only 4cheese and prosciutto), and cappucino at pagliacci. seems like a lot, but i skipped the gelato. and no iced tea for me, just water. :)

now the original glazed doughnut (from krispy kreme ) that has been sitting on my desk for 2 hours is another story. do i deserve this? hhmmmmmm... i can offset it with a workout later.

but we have videoke night at the elbow room tonight. dang.