April

April 2013, 2014, and 2015 were very hard months for me. April 2013 was when I saw the shattering of a love that I thought was real ... a love that I believed with all my heart was real but wasn't. This year, subconsciously I dreaded April and when it came around, I braced myself for the pain that I thought I would feel.

I used to tell myself I didn't love him anymore ... that I was over him ... then I would remember him and I would feel pain, yearning, hatred, love, and self loathing. Now, I feel nothing. I remember him and the good times we had and I cherish it but I no longer feel pain. I have learned my lesson and I've realized what happened had to happen and that it made me a much better person. 

He came into my life for a reason and to be a lesson. When I realized that and accepted it, life became easier. I forgave myself and I became more accepting of things. I learned to let go of what could be and accepted what is. 

3 years ago I lost myself. 

3 years later, I found myself once more. 

I am never letting go of me ever again. 

Never again. 

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Thoughts on what Duterte had to say

Here are my personal thoughts on the article I wrote titled Duterte and what he has to say. To understand fully, read the article first. Italicized words are from the article.

I am not the man I am portrayed to be by some.

This was the opening remarks of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

This was an understatement. I think that Duterte is one of the most misunderstood candidates in this election. He has been portrayed as monster for being honest about the things that everyone does. 

A lot of the businessmen were disappointed because they were expecting Duterte to rally about what he will do for their business and what not but he didn't. I just don't understand why people claim that he has no plans. He does but as he stated, there can be no economic growth if there is no peace and order. This is true. 

1. Investors won't invest if they believe that the Philippines is not a safe country. We have investors now but we could be so much more if the country is in order. We have too many red tapes and once we get rid of that, there would be so much more for the country, the people, and the economy. Perhaps, the poor may become middle class, and the middle class may become rich. Right now, the poor just gets poorer and the rich becomes richer.
2. Tourism is not maximized because even though we are one of the most beautiful country in the world, we also have too many pickpockets, corrupt officials, tanim bala, If our tourists will feel safe on the streets of our country, they would be more willing to put Philippines in their list of countries to visit. 

Duterte aims to accomplish this by increasing the base salary of law enforcers and military personnel from Php14,000 to Php28,000. If the personnel are earning enough, there would be less reason to be corrupt. Duterte acknowledges that he cannot run our country with a corrupt law enforcement.

The greediness in people is the main thing that drives people to do horrible things. The desire and need for more money is one of the main reasons why we have many corrupt officers. If he doubles the salary and still catches officials being corrupt, he will handle these officials. I think any official who would step out of line should be very careful and think a million times. 

Duterte said that he is being castigated for being brutally honest. For him, he will definitely use the police and military to go out and make arrests. If the perpetrator fights back and endangers the life of the police or military personnel, he will give the order to shoot. If a perpetrator will hurt his people (citizens and law enforcers) then yes, he will kill because this is his country.

Honestly, as a Mom to a 10 year old boy and a sister to a 16 year old girl, I need a President who is willing to get rid of the people who are nothing but criminals. I would like to be able to walk the streets at night and not worry that I will be held up, raped, or murdered. I would like to have my son play on the street and not worry that he might be kidnapped or taken in by a syndicate. I would like for my sister to be able to hang out with friends and I won't worry that they might become victims of white slavery. 

This does not mean that he will just go out and kill people. He will exercise due process but if needed, he will not hesitate to give the order to shoot. For him, the lives of innocents matter more than the life of one person who is already endangering the lives of many.

This is the part that everyone goes cuckoo about. Human rights violation and all that. From what Duterte has always stated, it is the criminals who will fight due process and endanger the life of the officers or people that he is willing to kill or order the military or police to kill. When someone rapes a child, a woman, does drugs willingly knowing that they have no complete control over themselves and commits a crime ... when someone is a pedophile or sells drugs to students and minors who do not know better ... these people are no longer human and do not deserve human rights. If you are so worried about the rights of these criminals, think of the rights they took away from their victims. Not everyone deserves to live. 

I also love the fact that Duterte called out the men inside the ballroom and told them that a lot of them have side chicks. Duterte clarified that he is already annulled so if he has a girlfriend, it shouldn't be an issue. He even went as far as to state that he is a man and has needs. I guess it ruffled the feathers of many because he was mentioning things that are normally reserved for chitchat in the confines of a coffee shop or bars. 

I could see the reactions of people. Some reporters and businessmen had looks of disbelief on their faces and it was just so tempting to ask them, "Why? Do you not think what he just said? Are you really so pure?" 

Overall, I found him REAL. I think this is the one thing that the other candidates just didn't have. He wasn't pretentious at all. He was an ordinary person talking to a group of people and he didn't care that they were wearing fine clothing, or that they were millionaires or that they were some of the most powerful men in the Philippines. He came in wearing a simple polo shirt, he cursed when he was upset, and he called a spade a spade. I think it's time we have someone like that in Malacanang. We've already had our share of traditional politicians and we are still a country that is looked down by almost everyone. Our biggest import is our own people and a lot of tourist think we are people who just clean other people's bathroom. We can be so much more and we deserve to be so much more. 

It's time we stop putting on the wolve's clothing of being "educated" "civil" "always act what is expected of society" and have someone who truly loves this country and want what is best, curses and all. He is not perfect but right now, no one needs perfect. We need change and this is what he brings to the table.

PS. I am both happy and sad with how people acted during this election period. Happy because their true colors were revealed and sad because I was mistaken about so many.

PSS. We also need new blood in the journalism industry. There were so many biased journalist during the speech. The reactions and side comments were snide, cruel, and simply frustrating. It seems it is not only the politicians who are trapos but also some journalist. As someone who looks up to journalists, this was quite heartbreaking. Integrity was non existent. 

AWFUL service at SOFITEL HOTEL

We were visiting my cousin and his family who was checked in at Sofitel. They told us they weren't impressed with the food they had during lunch at Spirals and that it wasn't worth the money spent. They asked if we could buy Chinese food outside and bring it over to him and his family. When my brother arrived with the food, I went to get him from the door to help him. This is where things went terribly DOWNHILL.

The security STOPPED us from entering. They asked why we had food and so I told them why. They said they had a policy AGAINST bringing of food. I have been to so many hotels and this is the first time I have ever heard of something like this. The security guy asked the following:

1. Who was the food for?
2. How many were eating?

THIS WAS SO INTRUSIVE ON PRIVACY.

Still, we answered. When we said it was for my cousin and his family, the security said, "isn't that a lot?" He then asked again. He must have asked 3x. He kept making side comments that the food was too many.

First of all, WHY DOES HE CARE? It was like he was insinuating we were lying or that my cousin and his family were "patay gutom" because the food was "too many."

I asked for a manager and they just looked at me. I stormed inside and asked for the manager and ended up talking to STEVEN HEINIG who is the MOST INCOMPETENT manager on duty I have ever spoken to. He was probably 2nd to a manager I spoke to at a local shopping mall but this was more disappointing because he's with    SOFITEL and SOFITEL is supposed to have HIGH standards but this was LOWEST of the LOW.

He told me that they DISCOURAGED bringing of food for guest. I clarified that it is simply discouraged but it isn't not allowed. He agreed. Then he reiterated that it is discouraged of which I had to repeat again that yes it may be discouraged but it doesn't mean that it is not allowed. He agrees again.

FRUSTRATING POINT: He got the paper showing that it is noted that it is discouraged BUT AGAIN, WHAT IS THE POINT? It simply said it is discouraged. Also, does this mean that Sofitel is forcing its customers to eat their food? My cousin wasn't happy. Why should he spend 3k on a meal per person that did not make him happy?

TOTAL MAD SKILLS IN BEING WORTHLESS. The manager did not even walk me to the door. He did not even personally speak to the guard. He "radioed" when he was but a mere 20 step away. Talk about LOUSY service.

It was abhorrent and truly disappointing. I was thinking of checking in for Mother's Day weekend with my Mom and family but with what happened, I don't see Sofitel as worthy of my hard earned money.

The only good thing about this place was the view. Sheesh.

One Championship: INTENSE

I can still feel the adrenaline and excitement of everyone around the arena! Yesterday’s fights were amazing and fight fans are talking about it all over the internet. Some of the best fighters were there last night and just like Victor Cui promised, all the fights were thrilling and awesome. Since not everyone got to watch it live so here is the recap of yesterday’s fights.

The first fight was between Danny Kingad from Team Lakay (Philippines) VS Muhamad Haidar.  The match ended during round 1 by referee stoppage due to strikes and the winner was Danny Kingad.

The second fight was between Burn Soriano (Philippines) VS Sunoto (Indonesia).  It lasted until the second round and ended by referee stoppage due to strikes.  The winner was The Terminator Sunoto.
The third fight was between April Osenio of Team Lakay (Philippines) VS Natalie Gonzales Hills (Philippines). Both girls were very aggressive, the fight ended during round one via arm bar by April Osenio.

The fourth fight was between two Filipinos again, Joshua Pacio VS Rabin Catalan. The fight ended during round 2 by referee stoppage due to strikes. The winner was Joshua Pacio.

The fifth fight was between Martin Nguyen (Australia) VS Li Kai Wen (China). The match ended by referee stoppage due to strikes. The winner was Martin Nguyen.

The sixth fight was again between two Filipinos, Honorio Banario of Team Lakay VS Vaughn Donarye. The three rounds were up and neither of them was able to make their opponent tap out, Honorio won via unanimous decision.

 The seventh fight was between Reece McLaren (Australia) VS Muin Gafurov (Tajikistan). Both fighters gave their best and fought until the third round. Reece won via unanimous decision.
The eight fight was between Lowen Tynanes (USA) VS Koji Ando (Japan). It lasted until the third round and Lowen won via unanimous decision.

The ninth fight was the most intense match; it was between Team Lakay’s Geje Eustaquio (Philippines) VS Malaysian star Gianni Subba. You can feel the tense atmosphere during the fight; the fight lasted until round 3. Eustaquio won via unanimous decision.

Main fight of the night was between the Welterweight Champion Ben Askren VS Russian veteran Nikolay Aleksakhin. The fight was intense and you can feel that the crowd was split into Team USA VS Team Russia. After 5 rounds of intense striking and some ground work, the crowned winner was Ben Askren.

Nestle Health Sciences: Opt to be Active

Did you know that, the process of ageing begins at birth? We age every single day. That’s why Nestle Health Science has been helping Filipinos have a longer and healthy life. They have released a new drink supplement that can help prevent and fight off diseases and illnesses. It’s not a diary product so even if you are lactose intolerant, you can drink this.

Dr. Jimmy Bautista, Medical & Scientific Affairs Lead at Nestle Health Science, said that the human body has two different ages which are Chronological Age and Biological Age. Chronological Age is based on calendar time while Biological Age is your body’s age. “People who optimize their health may have a biological age that is 10 years younger than their Chronological age,” said by Dr. Bautista. He also said that the presence of chronic conditions may accelerate the body’s decline, making us biologically older than our chronological age.

While Dr. Marianna Sioson, Section of Nutrition Head of The Medical City, said that it is never too EARLY to assess if we are meeting our nutrient requirements. As we grow older, malnutrition increases. We start taking nutritionally oral supplements to live a young and active lifestyle. We, Filipinos, should ask ourselves if we need to optimize our health and nutrient intake to have a full life.

Filipinos always find themselves debating whether they indulge or be healthy and often the earlier prevails. Because of this, they might face the scary consequence of getting a non-communicable diseases. The four main types are cardiovascular, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. We can prevent this by having a change in lifestyle and optimizing our nutrient intake. We all know what food is bad and good for us. Eat more beans, peas, lentils, salad, fruits, vegetables and unsweetened, unsalted foods, eat less of creamy dishes, French fries/toast, food with dressings and fast foods.

Nestle Health Science approves this approach and provides ways to bridge the gap between nutrition and therapy. They believe that the food that we consume everyday has the largest influence in our health. “By shifting the way people manage health and nutrition, we have the force to improve lives around the world because beyond medicine, there is nutritional therapy.”

One Championship Global Rival

Who’s excited for tomorrow’s fight?! ONE FC: Global Rivals had a press conference a while ago and it was awesome. All the fighters made sure to heat things up and everyone was pumped up. MMA fans have something to look forward to since it was announced that there will be NINE BOUTS for ONE: Global Rivals tomorrow night, April 15, 2016, at SM MOA Arena.  Fans in the Philippines will be the first to witness all the action LIVE as ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben “Funky” Askren returns to defend his title against hard-charging Russian opponent Nikolay Aleksakhin.

Tickets are available at www.smtickets.com

The CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui, promised an absolutely stacked card planned for fight fans in Manila. He said that he is very happy and excited to be back in the Philippines. He also said that each time they come back to Manila, their shows get even better and bigger and that this year is no exception. So watch out MMA fans, it seems that this event will be even more exciting and action packed.

Another awesome news, they are very happy to announce that they have made a deal with Philippine’s leading entertainment company, ABS-CBN. They will broadcast live fights for all the Filipino fans on it’s sport channel, ABS-CBN Sports + Action.

You can also watch online via live streaming at http://www.onefc.com/livestream. The event will be available for purchase at just US$9.99. For more information/updates you can visit their website on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com and follow Twitter and Instagram account @ONEFCMMA and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONEFCMMA

Starbucks Launches their Summer Drinks and Treats

Good news to all Starbucks Lovers. We have new cards, new drinks, and new eats. This is one of those things that I always look forward to every summer. For someone like me who has been a huge fan since they opened, I already know the cycle of the new drinks and treats and it just makes me look forward to the changing of months.

"Escape the heat of summer and experience fun-filled discoveries with our newest Frappuccino® Blended Beverage, the Roasted Marshmallow S'mores Frappuccino®Blended Beverage and our returning favorite, the Summer Berry Panna Cotta Frappuccino® Blended Beverage. Both available starting April 19."

My son and I both love Marshmallow Smores so we are very excited to give this a try when it's released on the 19th. I'm planning on taking him for breakfast at Starbucks and I'll be sure to use the new Starbucks card. The Mini Wave is simply gorgeous and I had to literally tear it off my sister's hand. She loves the color blue and thought this should go to her. I disagreed.

We are planning to get the Chicken Fajita on Multigrain Bread and my son would definitely want the Chocolate Sugar Cookie.

Afterwards, it would be perfect to cap off the breakfast with desserts. After all, Starbucks Philippines is known for their cakes. The Strawberry Cream Cake would be the top choice of my son and my choice would be the Mango Coconut Loaf. 

There are other designs of the Starbucks Card which you can read all about here.

You can also get the Limited Edition Summer Cold Cup and Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee Sweetened. I already did and I am enjoying drinking my Iced Coffee in this super cute cold cup. 

The Lion Guard

My son and I were invited to watch the series premiere of The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar which will be premiering on April 17, 2016 at 830am via The Disney Channel. As a kid, I watched The Lion King and as a Mom, I have made sure that my son watched it as well.

Before we watched the premiere, we were served with drinks and pastry. The kids and kids at heart were given coloring pages to color. It was soothing and relaxing, just like how Disney things should make you feel.

“The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar” features an all-star voice cast, which includes James Earl Jones and Ernie Sabella reprising their memorable roles from “The Lion King” as Mufasa and Pumbaa, respectively, alongside Rob Lowe as Simba and Gabrielle Union as Nala. Max Charles stars as Kion. The voice cast also includes Joshua Rush as Bunga; Atticus Shaffer as Ono; Diamond White as Fuli; and Dusan Brown as Beshte.

Set in the African Savanna, “The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar” follows Kion as he assembles the members of the Lion Guard. Traditionally, The Lion Guard comprised of the bravest and strongest lions in the Pride Lands. However, Kion defies tradition by calling upon some of his friends who typically wouldn’t have made the cut. From Kion’s best friend Bunga, a fearless honey badger, to Ono, an intellectual egret, to Fuli, a confident cheetah, and to Beshte, a friendly and good-spirited hippo, the newly formed Lion Guard is a rag tag group of unlikely heroes, united in their purpose to protect the Pride Lands. Throughout the movie and the series, the team will learn to utilize each of their unique abilities as they face new adventures in upholding the balance within the Circle of Life.

In anticipation of the movie and series launch, the search is on for kids across Southeast Asia to showcase their very best lion roars, no matter how big or small, via the “Show Us Your Roar” campaign on the Disney Channel Asia Facebook page. Kids who submit their roars stand a chance to have their video aired on Disney Channel during the premiere of “The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar”!

“The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar” and “The Lion Guard” series will also air on Disney Junior later on in the year. Ford Riley (“Special Agent Oso”) developed the movie and series and serves as executive producer. Howy Parkins (“Jake and the Never Land Pirates”) is the director.

My son liked the series and has already asked if he could watch it when it starts to show. Of course I said yes. After all, anything Disney is Mommy approved for me.  

Evia Lifestyle has MX4D Cinema aka Best Cinema EVER

One thing my family and I love more than food is watching movies and TV series. The fact that we all have our own iFlix accounts, 1TB of movies and series, plus our family movie dates is a testament of how much we appreciate movies. The other thing that we have grown up with is Dolby Surround Sound. This has made us very picky about the movie theaters that we go to. For us, there are 4 things a cinema must always have:

1. Great seats
2. Awesome surround sound
3. HD screen
4. Small crowd because we all know what happens when there are too many people 

Living in the South, we’d need to go to Town just to be able to get all of these. We’ve always talked about how there needs to be a new theater that would be just like the one at Town or even better. Finally, our prayers have been answered.

We literally felt everything when we watched Batman vs Superman. It was the whole works from seeing, hearing, feeling, and even smelling. Truly, it was an experience. I can't imaging watching a movie now anywhere else.

After the successful opening of its first movie theaters in Taguig, Vista Cinemas has opened to the public its second location at Evia Lifestyle Center in Vista City, Daang Hari. The four new movie theaters equipped with unique top-of-the-linefeatures are now ready to to redefine the movie-watching experience in the Southern Metro.

Three of the four newly opened cinemas are fitted with the latest and the best in audio technology--Dolby Atmos -- which allows movie-goers to feel like they're part of every scene. Sound produced by the Atmos System is projected from every direction in the cinema and moves with the action on-screen – creating a one-of-a-kind movie experience.

Apart from this world-class sound system, all four theaters of the Vista Cinemas are equipped with luxury seating from the FIGUERAS and LUXUS brands available only in select locations around the world.

Figueras is a Spanish brand that specializes in crafting high-end seating for public spaces. Their seats can be found in places such as The White House and the Philharmonie de Paris. LUXUS is a specialized line developed by LEE DESIGNS. LUXUS is a new and original concept of a lounge chair with a lower, reclining seating posture that provides added comfort through its active back structure and smart operation.

Couples living and working in the area can now also get to experience world-class movie dates. Vista Cinema 2 at Evia Lifestyle Center has thirty-one customizedlove seats that take the romantic movie experience to a whole new level of comfort and coziness.

Best of all, Vista Cinema now brings the first and only MX4D Motion EFX Theater in the country to Southern Metro Manila. This latest evolution in 4D cinema technology features MX4D theater seats that move in-sync with the action on-screen, while special EFX generators inside the cinema make viewers feel every jolt, poke, tilt, plus timed wind and mist atomizers. Vista Cinema's MX4D theater lets residents in the south enjoy the latest cinema innovations without them needing to go too far from home, avoiding the stress and traffic of the busy Central Metro.

The two top-of-the-line movie theaters opened this month are only the first phase of growth for Vista Cinemas. With more Vista Cinema locations all over the country set to open within the year, more Filipinos can look forward to a new era of premier movie viewing, right by their doorstep.

Superdudes Book is MOMMY Approved

One of the struggles I have had as a Mom is to ensure that everything my son reads and watches is appropriate for his age. When even some cartoons are R-18, Moms need to be more vigilant in checking what gets the attention of her child especially when the child is already a tweener like my son. This is why I was really grateful when I met Stevie Nicholson, creator of Superdudes. It seems he and I are on the same boat.

One of the questions that was asked to him was why he created Superdudes. He told us that he wanted to have something for the kids that can be enjoyed without any form of violence. He wanted to bring back the basics of how it is to be a child, to just have fun, do good things and be awesome without having to think if this is cool or not.

Doing the right thing makes you cool. This is one of the message of the Superdudes Books which I as a Mom really approves of. I always want my son to feel good when he does the right thing and to be proud of doing the right thing. However, some of his peers deem being a goody two shoes as something to be ashamed of and it’s a constant struggle having to explain to my son why this is not true.

I also love the images and caricatures, the strengths of each character and how relatable it is to kids. My son’s eyes literally lit up while reading it and he was smiling from ear to ear. As with any Mom, anything that makes our child happy and teaches them good morale, makes us happy too. I would definitely recommend this book to any Mom to buy for your child or give as a gift. This is something that every kid needs to have in their room. It’s a feel good, do good, and teaches good kind of book. What more can you ask for?

The Superdudes Book will be available at all Fully Booked stores this April 2016.