Fighting cock

Every weekend pag umuuwi ako sa Paranaque, nadadaanan ko ito. Pero wala naman akong nakikitang manok sa paligid. Everytime makikita ko sya feeling ko me mali.

Kaya hindi ko natiis piniktyuran ko. Iba talga eh? Gusto ko tuloy magtanong minsan sa mga nakatira dun, "sino po si Mr. Lamas, este, Llamas?"

(Note: toxic sa work, saka nako magsusulat ng matino).

Have you ever #1

Have you ever ran through jets of shooting water from a mall's floor and drove home after, wet and laughing with friends?

It was childish, but it was fun.

(actual location and floor fountain, photo borrowed from here)

Pa speaks up for controversial Mai

(source) From Mai's dad:

PLEASE ALLOW me to respond to the many criticisms directed at Mai Mislang.

Yes, I do not deny she made a huge blooper regarding the wine served, Vietnamese gentlemen and the traffic situation in Vietnam. It was a private comment with some members of the delegation. It was not the intention to have the comment blown all over, as what happened. The mistake was she posted her comments via Twitter. She should have known better.

As a parent, I am concerned more with the negative comments it generated, both from media personalities and private bloggers. What pained me was the comment that she was raised wrongly by us, her parents. Before saying this, they should have checked first. Isn’t that the practice in media?

We have three children, a son and two daughters, and are staying in a middle-class village in Quezon City. They grew up properly in a quiet neighborhood, studied in Catholic schools for their primary and secondary education, and college at UP. Mai and her sister are members of the local parish choir that sings during Mass. In UP, she was a member of ICTUS, a religious organization in the campus parish church. She finished her course in tourism with honors.

Mai worked with a five-star hotel in Makati in its communications department. Then she moved over to government at DSWD, with Secretary Corazon Soliman and Secretary Esperanza Cabral for bosses. From there, she joined Sen. Benigno Aquino’s staff in the Senate, and then Malacañang when P-Noy won the presidency. She was a hardworking assistant coming home late nights such that even on weekends, she was out there and had to forsake our weekly family dinners. She also does philanthropy, helping an elementary school in Marikina one way or another. One time, I helped her put in the car some computers to be given away to a school. She also has a band where some evenings the members sing in a bar for the sheer joy of it, not for the money. I would say, despite her busy schedule, Mai appears to enjoy life.

It’s just too bad some members of media, broadcast and print, were too harsh on her. They made it appear that she was a spoiled brat, snooty, lacking in manners, and pointed to us parents as responsible for her lack of breeding. I vehemently deny it. We raised our children the right way. This can be checked with our neighbors; otherwise, they are not what they are today, all professionals!

Who among the media persons can say they never committed a mistake in their line of work, and if they indeed did, were never given a second chance to make up for the wrong? The same can be applied to Mai, can’t it be? Mai committed a mistake and it was all over the place, and everybody comes asking for her head!

Mai has apologized for her faux pas. And the Vietnam government was not affected, saying it was a small matter. So who are we to continue condemning her? Even in law, first offenses are normally forgiven and a second chance is given the offender.

Mai and her siblings are our heroes, no doubt about it. And our trust and love for her never waned a bit.

—ED MISLANG,edmislang2001@yahoo.com

Top dish

I was not a fan of Korean food, but there’s something about top dish that makes me come back often. Maybe because I never really enjoyed Korean dishes served in posh restaurants. I liked it better in a cozy place that seemed only like a family ran carinderia.
Top dish is situated in somewhat Makati’s version of a red light district. It’s weirdly placed next to a massage parlor, almost inconspicuous if not for the continuous inflow and outflow of Koreans and locals in its shop.

One thing I’ve noticed is the free appetizer set served at start, which by most of us Filipinos would already consider as main course, ang dami kasi. I think most Korean restaurants would have the same set of free flowing appetizers, a selection of sweet spicy dilis, kimchi, etc.

For the entrée, each dish is a must try, and if you’re a bit adventurous, you may want to try their silk worm preserved in a tin can (de latang silk worm kung baga, though I think appetizer sya haha ang ironic lang).

Top dish is located at:

4890 Durban Corner P. Burgos Street
Makati Metro Manila Philippines
Tel no: +63(2)7581122

Mga turo ng Math titser ko sa lablyp

(image source)

Iwasang mag bilang ng magbilang. Oo na, math wiz ka na pero kung gusto mong gawin, gawin mo, wag gumawa ng tally ng nagawa mo against sa nagawa nya. Hindi yan calculus na kelangan ng proof. Kumbaga sa calculator, add lang ng add, di mo kelangang pindutin ang equal sign, makikita pa din naman sa kada add mo kung gano na kadami nagawa mo.

At pakiusap lang. Wag gumamit ng MR, o Memory Recall. Tawag dun, sumbatan.

Sa subtraction me tinatawag na “cannot be, carry one” na kung saan mas maliit ang numero ng kanang dulo ng subtrahend sa minuend kaya kelangang kumuha ng isa.

Madalas sa pag bigay ng oras sa minamahal me masasacrifice. Madaming beses na kelangang himindi sa barkada kasi nagtatampurorot ng date ang iyong mahal. Kukunin mo oras mo sa sarili para ibigay sa minamahal. Keri one.

Pero me pagkakataon din namang sa mahal mo ikaw kukuha ng oras kasi importanteng mabigyan mo ng oras ang trabaho, o isang kaibigang matagal mo nang di nakikita. Kung pano lang nya iintindihin, un ang problem solving.

Kung ayaw naman ni pangga ng “carry one,” pwede din namang "plus one."

Isama si pangga, un ang “plus one.” Madalas gugustuhin ng iyong katuwang na kabuntot sya sa mga lakad. Minsan nakakatuwa, minsan hindi. Lalo na kung por da boys ang lakad. Hindi naman sa me gagawin kayong himala, pero me mga bagay na talagang sa harap lang ng mga kaibigan nyo napapagusapan.

Tamang division lang ang kelangan. Pero di pwedeng equal division. Me magagalit. Minsan pag demanding, kelngan mas malaki ang sa kanya, meron din namang di demanding at naiintindihang me iba kading mundong ginagalawan.

Pero sa totoo lang, aminin mo man sa sarili mo, minsan gusto monalang i-divide ang sarili mo. Ingat lang sa pag divide. Sa huli di na whole number ang resulta, me infinite decimal points pa. Haggard.

Sabi sa Bible, “go forth and multiply.” Ingat lang sa pagmultiply. Baka me batang mabuo, o di kaya baka bacteria o virus ang magmultiply sa kapabayaan mo. Oo, inaadvocate ko ang condom. Kung hindi mo kayang magpigil. Kung protektado ka, parang multiplication of integers lang yan. Negative times positive ay negative padin. Basta me proteksyon ka.

Oo na daig ng malandi ang maganda. Pero sa mga nagmamadaling maghanap ng kabiyak, tandaan, mahirap mag add ng fractions, hahanap ka pa ng common denominator.

Madalas, sa mga pilit makahanap ng common denominator, ang laki nang numero napuntahan ng wallet mo, basted din pala ang kahahantungan mo.

Parang graph ng hyperbola, mag gear towards the axis pero ang hirap mag meet.

(image source)

Pero kung sakaling swertehin ka, wag magtaka kung mapansin mong mas mahal mo sya kesa mas mahal ka nya. Minsan may less than at may greater than, pero bumabaligtad din yan sa kalaunan, ikaw naman ang less than sya naman ang greater than. Bihira ang “is equal to”.

Pero parang graph ulit. May x-axis, may y-axis. Pero meron din naming Origin. Un ung gitna. Matuto lang kayong magpunta sa gitna, magiging ok naman kayo. Madalas ang nakakarinding payo ng nakakatanda, “compromise.”

Sa Math din siguro nakuha ang konsepto ng open relationships. Me variable kasi. Parang algebra, substitute y with a number, kung ayaw mo ng y pwede din naming isubstitute sa x, moving on naman tawag dun.

Kitams, ang daming application ng Math sa love life.

Parehas silang sinusumpa.

Parehas silang pinag pupuyatan.

At minsan, kahit anong pagsusumpa at puyat mo, bagsak padin. Ilan ba ang kilala kong nag ulit ng Math 11? Madami dami na.

Kaya naiintindihan ko kung bakit allergic sa pag ibig ang ibang tao (gaya ni ewik), parang kung pano ko kamuhi-an ang Math. Komplikado kasi masyado.

Pero di gaya ng Math, mahirap makuha ang saktong formula sa pag ibig. Iba’t ibang tao, iba’t ibang equation ang pwedeng i-apply. Hindi lahat sakto sa banga.

Pero at least kung me problem ka sa Math o sa love life, me solusyon.

At sa huli, me result ka ding makukuha.

Kahit zero pa man yan.