3 on L.O.V.E.

"We can live
In a world so free
Be true to your heart
And let love just take you there"

"True Love is not just Figthing for someone you love... but also LETTING GO"

"Love Means Never Ever Having To Say You're Sorry"

tokidoki in San Francisco!!!!

Yep, Simone Legno, creator of one of my OBSESSIONS, tokidoki, makes an appearance in the Bay Area on the 15th of November, 2008. It will be held at Macy's in Union Square....

Haaays, wish I could be there & attend!!! I MISS MY HOMETOWN!!!

"It's Really Not the Size That Matters...

...it's what you do with it... REALLY!!"

Taiwan was once the world's leading manufacturer and exporter of bicycles but in the mid-1990s due to dumping charges and relocations of factories to China where production costs are much lower - business basically tumbled down. Though China now is the world's major supplier of low-cost bicycles -- according to the economics ministry, Taiwan retains its edge in high-end products such as racing-style, mountain and folding bikes.

Yep, you READ that right... Folding Bikes!!! The folding bike, otherwise known as "xiao che" in Mandarin or "little foldable", weighs around 10 kilograms (22 pounds).

Pacific Cycles, a Taoyuan-based exporter, began selling its signature folding bikes at home in 2005, and since then they have become popular with city dwellers for their lightweight and convenient features. According to a recent interview with marketing manager Max Yeh, despite a 66 percent price hike to 50,000 Taiwan dollars (about US$1500.00 each) per bike, domestic sales are estimated to increase by 100 percent this year.

Could it be the failing economy -- domestically and worldwide??? People trying to reduce their expenses by not driving - what with the high rising costs of Petrol. Or maybe the growing environmental awareness of the Taiwanese people -- the wish for less traffic jams and cleaner air. Even the Taiwanese government has promised to expand cycling routes and facilities, in a bid to promote cycling as part of its "green policy" aimed at saving energy and reducing carbon emissions. The latter I totally LOVE and AGREE with WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

I can only hope that, like in so many North American & European cities, cycling will become a way of life -- and not just another passing TRENDY fad. And since am already in a wishful thinking mode - I hope also that the trend will spill over to other Metropolitan Asian cities like Manila, Bangkok, etc....

Blood Is Thicker Than Water, Indeed...

I thought I had LOST this email from my brother... he sent me this email back in the SUMMER of 2007.... am sooo HAPPY to have found it filed in one of my folders.... and not LOST after all... the email included something he had written and was published a month prior to me getting the email, during the annual Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month...

I remember feeling back then, after reading this, how though we could be as different as Night & Day -- we still hold the same feelings for our childhood memories, family & friends, and the country we were both born in.... This feelings of longing is even more intense and rekindled now that I have been going back a lot, to look into our MOM....

We left The Philippines together at a young age and moved to the USA to be with our father... like all siblings, we had our fun times... our quarrels... our differences... and the last time we were really together, prior to our DAD's Funeral in 2006, was before he left for the US Air Force -- many, many years ago....

I am soooo PROUD of him for this article and thought I would share it with you all..
My Kuya Benjie: Taken back in late 2007 during the last weeks of his stint in Iraq.

Stranger In My Own Country

By: SMSgt Reuben P. Teruel
United States Air Force
51st Logistics Readiness Squadron

So many memories…

I miss my country, where everything is so different yet so familiar at the same time. I miss my relatives, the people who taught me never to forget where I came from, because it is a part of who I am and always will be. It is this fierce pride in my heritage, my culture, that has kept me devoted to my motherland.
I know that I do not belong in America. I do not belong in a place where I am supposed to be obsessing over superficialities while people in my country are struggling to survive. Nor can I ignore the yearning inside of me to go back home, to the people and places I love and miss so much. I cannot simply go on with my life and pretend that I am still the carefree person I once was, because nothing is the same.
It has been so many years since I left. There are some things I can still remember, having thumbed through the same old pictures many times in my attempts to hold on to days gone by, but other memories have been lost in the dark recesses of my mind. Images of what I have left behind greet me at every turn, making the wait seem even longer and the longing even stronger. Though it was only last year that I was talking and laughing and mourned with my relatives, it’s really been more than 30 years that my life is filled with tears and the sorrow of goodbye. The dull ache of homesickness still remains and it never goes away.
I want to go back. Back to the chorus of the roosters at dawn, the sound of jeepneys and tricycles rushing by on the street and the familiar ring of a vendor's bell as they pass by. All of that is gone now and there is nothing more to do but go on with my life here in America and wait for the years to pass until I can return once again.
I have already missed so much.
I wonder how different my life would have been if I had grown up in the Philippines. Sure, I would not possess most of the things that I have now, but would any of that matter? Time has passed by so quickly and going back, I felt like I was a stranger in my own country. I have been away another year but what is a single year after so many have already come and gone?

Nothing can ever replace what I have lost.
There are times when I have to remind myself how blessed I am to be here. I carelessly spend money on trivial items and proceed to whine about not having enough. I do not want to forget all that I have seen and yet it is starting to form a hazy picture in the back of my mind.
And so I sit here helplessly and watch as my country slowly deteriorates. Unlike so many others, I need not worry about where my next meal will come from or have any fears about my future, simply because I grew up in the United States. Yes, I have greater opportunity than many can ever hope to have but there is no escaping the irony and the guilt that comes with it.
People tell me that it is hopeless, that I should follow the example of the millions of others who stayed abroad and send money back home. Help the economy, they say. But if everyone were to leave, who would be left to help the others that have no choice but to stay? For the simple reason that I can, I must go back. Do I think that I as an individual can make a difference? Not only do I believe I can…but I must make a difference. I have had more than enough ease and comfort in my life and there are others who will never know what it is like.
I speak for Filipinos everywhere, whose lives and families have been torn apart by distance and time. I speak for those whose dreams have been smothered by the weight of reality and for others who have left in search of an illusion and who may never return.
I weep for my dying country, where hope itself has grown weary from hunger. I’m longing to one day return home for good in the land of my parents…the land of my birth. To live amongst my people once again. I know life maybe harder but there is no denying…home is where my heart is. After all, you can take a Filipino out of the Philippines…but you can never take the Philippines out of a Filipinos heart.
One day I shall return. Someday…I will be home…

Sacrifice Valley Trek

Oct 27th, 2008 : Paid our respects to my Dad & Grandmother by visiting their moseleums in Sacrifice Valley - Bataan, Philippines....

it was PERFECT time to visit, as Ace did not have to go to school and Nicole is on a sem break from school... and actually better doing so than on All Soul's Day -- as it would have been CHAOS - since a lot of people do come up to Sacrifice Valley for prayers and festivities during that Holiday....
We even got to take some fun shots as the place is just full of SAINTLY and ANGELIC statues.... including the 16 Marian Images representing the Beloved Virgin Mary's
16 major apparitions throughout the world -- all in LIFE SIZE form!!!!

November Rain

Back In Taipei once again... and the RAIN is back along with me... my flight got in at past 1PM yesterday afternoon... it was sunny when we were landing but lo and behold, as soon as I step off the bus, closer to my home, the rain started.... must have brought it back from Manila as I heard it was nice and sunny here when I was away.... and in Manila, it was raining off and on, the whole week I was there... 2nd day back today, Monday the 3rd and it has been raining heavily.... LOLs... RAINY SEASON here we come... good thing I have a lot of work to catch up to which will keep me indoors for the next few days....

Mom & Angel: Photo Above

The TRIP was, as always, HURRIED and TIRING... still it is always worth it to see my family - especially my MOM.... she is doing quite well -- HAPPY and ENERGETIC.... it was GREAT bringing a 2 year old girl, Angel (a cousin's daughter), with us to keep her laughing as she loves kids... The only bad thing is finding a LUMP on her chest that seems to be getting bigger -- so we need to get that checked out right away... and as with most older people, she does not want to deal with it nor even think about it... which can be frustrating...

So it is scary to think about these things... how my MOM is really getting old... I only wish I can make things more comfortable for her... give her a bit more HAPPINESS... if there is one thing that she is wanting - that is to get to see my Brother Benjie... I do hope I can make this come true for her... sometime soon...

Ghosts of Halloween Pasts!!!!

Was reorganizing photo albums on a quiet nite, here, alone in the Manila Condo... and I came across these photos from one of my FAVE, and one of the last Halloween's I celebrated in The US! Circa late 90's... Out and about with a few friends @ the Annual Castro Street Halloween Fair.
Steven Thai & I - a very good friend, Gary Miller, custom made this MATADOR costume for me... Was inspired to live out this fantasy after seeing the Almodovar Film Matador & Madonna's Take A Bow Music video.
The backside of the costume... very intricately designed... and yes, that's BAXTER on the left hand corner... must be admiring the costume, too!!
and my dear old friend, Judy, who I missed terribly, went as The Addams Family's Wednesday.... with headless doll to boot....

This Is Halloween!!!

Oct 31st here in Asia already... HALLOWEEN!!! though it is not widely celebrated here - we all do what we can to commemorate the day... for me it will be a repeat viwewing of Tim's Burton's Nightmare before XMas...
This is one of those cool, instant classic animation... the old style feel to it is that one that attracted me in the first place to see it... the music, the storylines, the characters are all added bonus!!!

Doggie Love 3: Mitten : Russian Cartoon

Last one on Doggies for a while - I PROMISE!!!

Last nite, my family and I were visiting a very good friend, Sandy and her family, in their newly purchased and renovated home - will save that story for another time - there we got to meet her 4 year old LAB, WACKY... he was BIIG but sooo much fun and so lovable.... am sad I did not get to snap a photo of him... much too busy chatting, and eating and Wacky was as well, playing and jumping on everyone and anyone he can....

Anyway, you already know about my LOVE for DOGGIES (see DOGGIE LOVE)and how lately I have been thinking soooo much about them.... all these thoughts of having one for a companion reminded me of this beautiful animation I first saw in JAPAN, years ago, the Russian Classic, MITTEN!!!

It is an awesome clay animation film--from Russia--about an only child, her single mom, and the red mitten that she pretends is a puppy. Made by Soyuzmult Film in 1967.
(Above Photo: Vinyl Toy Figures of the Girl and Mitten was issued and purchased in JAPAN)

Make Your Own Kind of Music

Got to see this movie, BEAUTIFUL THING, once more -- and was reminded how beautiful and tender the movie was.... and how it is a perfect example of MUSIC and MOVIE fitting together perfectly! The movie came out in the mid 90's and it was a very URBAN and REALISTIC coming of age movie, at the same time, somewhat fairytale love story.. All the characters are flawed and SO REAL!

The scene below makes great use of The MAMAs & The PAPAs, Make Your Own Kind of Music -- the LYRICS makes one feel it was totally written for the movie... of course, most of us knows the music preceeds the movie many years ago....

All Quiet in the Eastern Front!!!

Here in Manila... doing my time... family bonding and obligations... happy to say that things are fine with my MOM... she is in great spirits and is doing fine... got to visit my Dad's grave and pay mty respects - even before ALL SOUL's Day... even getting to have some downtime for myself - catching up on PRISON BREAK... and so far only one family drama... YEAH!!!!!!

The BEST part of being here right now is seeing all the GREAT XMAS displays -- and lots of it - up already.... The PAROLS... XMas Trees.... Bright and FESTIVE lite displays.... my Fave, Shangrila Mall is all aglow in XMas spirits already... see photo below...
AM LOVING IT!!!

So all these XMasness is putting me into better spirits... happy, festive mood... and looking forward to more brightness to come....
Hope all is GREAT, or at least QUIET, in your neck of the woods...

..am FLYING AWAY!!!!

Well, it is that time of the month again when I FLY OUT to see my MOM..... check up on her and this time I even get to visit my DAD's Grave as I will be in Manila for All Souls Day... These monthly trips are soooo tiring, not to mention costly... but such is life so there is not much more I can do 'cept to go with the flow of things... haaays, if only I can actually just fly the broom and back - that would surely save me $$$ and TIME.... oh well, DREAM ON!!!

It is soooo AMAZING how so much can happen and change in just a few days.... Wish it could be delightful and positive things but instead new frustrations and hurdles to overcome have risen... AM SOOOOOO FRUSTRATED and SOURED by one of the setbacks -- I feel, I cannot even think straight.... at this point right now, I just FEEL LIKE it would be easier to simply give up on HOPING... on EVERYTHING........ so I GUESS, it is good am going to MANILA and get some KIND of ALONE time -- time to think things through -- to see and re-asses my options...

Am just hoping & praying there will be NO NEW FAMILY DRAMAs, too -- to add to everything else.... Oh Life!!!