Last Thursday, I was able to get a copy of The Standard which is a free newspaper distributed at Central every morning. Indeed, I was delighted to read another column from Mr. Nuri Vittachi who writes witty comments about issues and everyday stuffs....I couldn't resist posting it here. hehehehe :) I guess in this column...I am guilty as charged (only with some on the list but not all hehehehe...)!
24 signs you are a post-modern Asian
by Nuri Vittachi
MY FRIEND ANDY told me he goes to the Starbucks coffee shop every day. I told him he was a coffee addict. He shook his head. "Actually, I can't stand the stuff," he whispered. "I order tea."
Andy is your typical modern Asian yuppie fashion victim, or what I prefer to call "an idiot". You may think that's harsh, but anyone who pays US$5 for a cup of tea just to look trendy deserves to be dissed.
But then I realized I was no different. I go to trendy Western restaurants, but sneak in a bottle of chilli sauce to give the food a chance to bite back. (Warning: If you do this, DO NOT keep the chilli sauce in your trouser pocket. Tiny accidents can cause severe inflammation of the underpants, which can painfully damage your chance of fathering multitudes.)
It's funny: the inhabitants of cities in Asia look totally Westernized these days. Yet scratch the surface and you find traditional Asians underneath.
So here is a list of: Signs That You Are a Post-Modern Asian.
1.If you haven't eaten rice at least once a day, you feel hungry.
2.You have black hair but think of it as dark brown.
3.Many members of your family have politically incorrect nicknames, such as Fatty- Uncle.
4.Your number one guilty secret: you enjoy karaoke.
5.You have lived next door to someone for five years but know nothing at all about them.
6.Your older relatives still think that you have to shout into phones to make yourself heard.
7.You drive a German car in your dreams and a Toyota in real life.
8.You think wearing a Rolex Oyster is a legal requirement for Asian businessmen.
9.You have Western pills in your medicine cabinet, but also strange smelling rocks, seeds and a bit of sliced deer antler.
10.You have never even thought about paying full price for a DVD or CD.
11.Your parents don't realize that there are other things you can study at university other than business, medicine, law and engineering.
12.You have at least one friend whose first name is a noun, as in Diphtheria Chan.
13.You never realized that Solitaire could be played without a computer.
14.There are jars of dried leaves in the pantry of your family home.
15.Your mobile phone has a different ring tone for your main spouse and your "minor" spouse.
16.You know more European designer labels than any of your European friends.
17.You have no time for organized religion but take the feng shui of your office seriously.
18.You think there's nothing odd with an adult buying a Nintendo DS or a PSP for his or her own use.
19.You think of all software as freeware.
20.Several of your friends think use what they think are trendy, popular Western names, such as Winnie, Gilbert, Fanny and Connie.
21.You are amazed at what your Western friends pay for designer Asian clothes that look like the stuff in your grandmother’s wardrobe.
22.You have no interest in classic music but were forced to do piano or violin all the way to grade eight.
23.All your Western friends think you are good at math.
24.And you are reading this in a designer coffee shop drinking a US$5 cup of tea.
If you would like to read more of his stuff check http://mrjam.typepad.com/diary
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
PURPLE HAT
I have received this email from my doctor(which reminds me, I am way overdue with my appointment with her..hehehe...:)) in which I would like to share with anyone who reads this. I thinks this is one of the good ways in which we can embrace life and look at it half full than half empty:)
In honor of women's history month and in memory of Erma
Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer.. Pass this on to five women that you
want watched over. If you don't know five women to pass this on to, one will
do just fine.
IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of
pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for
the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose
before it melted in storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the
carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room
and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in
the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather
ramble about his youth.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by
my husband.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on
a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching
television and more while watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was
practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have
cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me
was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have
said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner..' There would have been more
'I love you's' More 'I'm sorry's.'
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every
minute.look at it and really see it . . live it and never give it back..
STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!
Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or
who's doing what
Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those
who do love us.
If you don't mind, send this on to all the women you are
grateful to have as friends. Maybe we should all grab that purple hat
earlier. Please send this to five phenomenal women today in celebration of
Beautiful Women's Month. If you do, something good will happen--you will
boost another woman's self esteem.
'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.
In honor of women's history month and in memory of Erma
Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer.. Pass this on to five women that you
want watched over. If you don't know five women to pass this on to, one will
do just fine.
IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of
pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for
the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose
before it melted in storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the
carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room
and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in
the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather
ramble about his youth.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by
my husband.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on
a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching
television and more while watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was
practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have
cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me
was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have
said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner..' There would have been more
'I love you's' More 'I'm sorry's.'
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every
minute.look at it and really see it . . live it and never give it back..
STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!
Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or
who's doing what
Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those
who do love us.
If you don't mind, send this on to all the women you are
grateful to have as friends. Maybe we should all grab that purple hat
earlier. Please send this to five phenomenal women today in celebration of
Beautiful Women's Month. If you do, something good will happen--you will
boost another woman's self esteem.
'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Budget Friendly Summer Getaway!
Once again summer is here or at least in the Philippines..it is. An average of 31 degrees celcius in Manila...phew...boy that is hot!
Though we have planned to spend our holy week there, our late planning of special summer getaway failed. When we decided to find a place,it was already too late. Most places were already fully booked(I think they were booked at least one month in advance). We did not want to go places that were too far, otherwise most of our time will be spent on traveling alone instead of quality time with our kids. And of course, we also have our budgets to consider, thus giving us limitations to where we can really go.
Thanks to my aspirations of becoming a practical savvy mom, I remembered Club Manila East. It was only 15 minutes away from our home.We rented a cabana for Php2500.00 which is already inclusive of entrance fee for 5 persons and an addition of Php260.00 per head exceeding 5.(During holidays, it is still wise to book there at least one day in advance to avoid long queues). Their cabanas have it's own bathroom, kitchen sink, phone (for food deliveries and other CME services), and mono bloc chairs and tables. It was not air conditioned though but ceiling fan was provided and jalousie windows with screens. These techniques though minimal in alleviating heat,but overall it has good source of light and ventilation. I'd say it is energy efficient! Two thumbs up in an effort to save costs and the environment.
We did not go there prepared so we had to wait for SM Taytay to open so that we can buy life vests and sun blocks for the kids. It is only 5 minutes away from CME:) They have boutique shop inside but we prefer to have additional options than what was at hand. Bringing food inside is not allowed but should you go hungry, they have fast food such as Jollibee, Chowking,etc. and CME canteens. Some families opt to eat their lunch at the parking lots with their "baons", however, we decided to go home. It is Black Saturday...there is no such thing as traffics during this day! Hehehehe...
CME has fun filled activities in store for families and friends. You will never get bored inside. You can do kayaks, surfing (yes surfing!) and of course, swimming!!My kids were too young and too small so we spent it most in the kiddie pool and the kayaks. They have two wave pools, the beach wave pool and the ocean wave pool. To tell the difference, I really cannot except only in size. They do offer lessons in swimming and surfing. Surfing lessons were taught at the Beach Wave Pool and swimming lessons were taught at their Lap pools.
Overall, we had a blast and really saved a lot. There was no need to stay there overnight, no traffics to encounter, not toll fees to pay and does not need a full tank car to get there. We saved a heap amount of money, gave us more bonding time with our loved ones and helped to conserve energy as well (burning fuel;). I recommend we do this again if not within this summer...maybe next year again!Woohoo!!
Though we have planned to spend our holy week there, our late planning of special summer getaway failed. When we decided to find a place,it was already too late. Most places were already fully booked(I think they were booked at least one month in advance). We did not want to go places that were too far, otherwise most of our time will be spent on traveling alone instead of quality time with our kids. And of course, we also have our budgets to consider, thus giving us limitations to where we can really go.
Thanks to my aspirations of becoming a practical savvy mom, I remembered Club Manila East. It was only 15 minutes away from our home.We rented a cabana for Php2500.00 which is already inclusive of entrance fee for 5 persons and an addition of Php260.00 per head exceeding 5.(During holidays, it is still wise to book there at least one day in advance to avoid long queues). Their cabanas have it's own bathroom, kitchen sink, phone (for food deliveries and other CME services), and mono bloc chairs and tables. It was not air conditioned though but ceiling fan was provided and jalousie windows with screens. These techniques though minimal in alleviating heat,but overall it has good source of light and ventilation. I'd say it is energy efficient! Two thumbs up in an effort to save costs and the environment.
We did not go there prepared so we had to wait for SM Taytay to open so that we can buy life vests and sun blocks for the kids. It is only 5 minutes away from CME:) They have boutique shop inside but we prefer to have additional options than what was at hand. Bringing food inside is not allowed but should you go hungry, they have fast food such as Jollibee, Chowking,etc. and CME canteens. Some families opt to eat their lunch at the parking lots with their "baons", however, we decided to go home. It is Black Saturday...there is no such thing as traffics during this day! Hehehehe...
CME has fun filled activities in store for families and friends. You will never get bored inside. You can do kayaks, surfing (yes surfing!) and of course, swimming!!My kids were too young and too small so we spent it most in the kiddie pool and the kayaks. They have two wave pools, the beach wave pool and the ocean wave pool. To tell the difference, I really cannot except only in size. They do offer lessons in swimming and surfing. Surfing lessons were taught at the Beach Wave Pool and swimming lessons were taught at their Lap pools.
Overall, we had a blast and really saved a lot. There was no need to stay there overnight, no traffics to encounter, not toll fees to pay and does not need a full tank car to get there. We saved a heap amount of money, gave us more bonding time with our loved ones and helped to conserve energy as well (burning fuel;). I recommend we do this again if not within this summer...maybe next year again!Woohoo!!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
THE ULTIMATE CHOICE
On one of those lazy afternoons, on one of those lazy weekends, my husband was able to stumble upon a worthwhile website that really speaks of great ideas. (for that which I would be eternally grateful to him :))
The website: www.ted.com.
As website has illustrated, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It has invited celebrated guest speakers from CEO's , politicians, entertainers, tech experts to psychologists (to name a few, Bill Gates, Al Gore, Bono of U2, Eve Ensler and the list goes on). They give talks that convey ideas that are invaluable and seeks to help us realize our full potential and commitment to improving not only our own lives but to help others improve theirs as well. Normally, symposiums, seminars, conventions,and all the same sorts, though they mean well in sharing informations and ideas, would somehow inadvertently draw me to the obliviousness of sleep.(Sorry, my bad) But these talks from TED, they were limited to 18 minutes of discussion. Somehow you are assured that each word they divulge is essential and note worthy to the viewpoint they want to get across to their audience.(To this, I am so ever delighted and always at the edge of my seat.Hahahaha... )My time is important after all. I have no time to check my dictionary to search for the meaning of those prolific words nor to understand those hard to crack idioms or metaphors. They are simple, direct to the point, entertaining if I may add, and most importantly, significant to us.
On one of those talks that recently have made impact on me was the one given by Barry Schwartz. I tried to do a small research on him and indeed, (as wikipedia had narrowed it down) an American psychologist and professor at Swarthmore college, contributes editorials at New York times and author of 6 books. One of which, (if I may presume as the most controversial) is "The Paradox of Choice, Why more is less".(Only my opinion, I haven't read all of them.)
Let me give you (hopefully) a quick walk through on Barry Schwartz stand on this...
According to him, we live in a world filled with choices. In theory, supposedly, having all these choices should make our lives less complicated and will help us get through our daily routines with ease and comfort. Contradictory to this notion however,decision making then becomes a stressful environment for us and may even cause clinical depression (the not so clinical term: miserable). Too many option causes paralysis...(analysis paralysis?) Even though that decision has been carefully thought of and even though we know it was the right decision or a good choice,we fail to recognize this. Why?
1.REGRET AND ANTICIPATED REGRET - Despite having made a sound decision, we can't help but think that with the other million options (if I am not exaggerating), one of which could have been the one. The one option that well suited us.
2.OPPORTUNITY COSTS - If I understand this right, the cost of choosing one between so many options make us feel that we will deprive ourselves of other great opportunities.
3.ESCALATION OF EXPECTATIONS - With the drive of competition and making everything accessible to us, from information to digital gadgets, we have raised our expectations of the world and even to ourselves. Somehow, we couldn't simply settle with anything less. With all the datum in our hands, we should arrive at what seemingly is a well calculated decision. As Barry said "There seemed to be no excuse for failure!"
4.SELF-BLAME - We burden ourselves with the impression that if we make a wrong decision, there's no one else to blame but ourselves.;(
His argument(which has raised a lot of eyebrows)is that the options given to people (with marketing strategies ek ek) should be narrowed down to a few simple ones. As he had stated, everybody needs a fishbowl.Limitations. A finite to the infinite. Not everybody is ready to embrace this principle. But then again, from his point of view, not everyone is ready or can handle too many choices in their hands. It makes perfect sense but even though the idea sounds simple,it is not.
His talk only validates that persons with low self esteem cannot make a reasonable decision and resort to quick fix solutions like fewer options. It is more conscientious though. But really, I am hoping more of a character building and moral formation than just giving a person fewer options. After all, a person who is focused and determined knows exactly what he/she wants. A person should not be rattled when faced with more choices or should I say more challenges.
In truth, there is really no wrong or right decision.One should not be afraid to make a decision. There is no better option. Only decisions that make us happy or choices that makes us wiser in the end.
(Come to think of it, I narrowed down decision making to 2...hahaha...I think I understand what he meant by fewer options then...hehehehe)Gulo!!
The website: www.ted.com.
As website has illustrated, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It has invited celebrated guest speakers from CEO's , politicians, entertainers, tech experts to psychologists (to name a few, Bill Gates, Al Gore, Bono of U2, Eve Ensler and the list goes on). They give talks that convey ideas that are invaluable and seeks to help us realize our full potential and commitment to improving not only our own lives but to help others improve theirs as well. Normally, symposiums, seminars, conventions,and all the same sorts, though they mean well in sharing informations and ideas, would somehow inadvertently draw me to the obliviousness of sleep.(Sorry, my bad) But these talks from TED, they were limited to 18 minutes of discussion. Somehow you are assured that each word they divulge is essential and note worthy to the viewpoint they want to get across to their audience.(To this, I am so ever delighted and always at the edge of my seat.Hahahaha... )My time is important after all. I have no time to check my dictionary to search for the meaning of those prolific words nor to understand those hard to crack idioms or metaphors. They are simple, direct to the point, entertaining if I may add, and most importantly, significant to us.
On one of those talks that recently have made impact on me was the one given by Barry Schwartz. I tried to do a small research on him and indeed, (as wikipedia had narrowed it down) an American psychologist and professor at Swarthmore college, contributes editorials at New York times and author of 6 books. One of which, (if I may presume as the most controversial) is "The Paradox of Choice, Why more is less".(Only my opinion, I haven't read all of them.)
Let me give you (hopefully) a quick walk through on Barry Schwartz stand on this...
According to him, we live in a world filled with choices. In theory, supposedly, having all these choices should make our lives less complicated and will help us get through our daily routines with ease and comfort. Contradictory to this notion however,decision making then becomes a stressful environment for us and may even cause clinical depression (the not so clinical term: miserable). Too many option causes paralysis...(analysis paralysis?) Even though that decision has been carefully thought of and even though we know it was the right decision or a good choice,we fail to recognize this. Why?
1.REGRET AND ANTICIPATED REGRET - Despite having made a sound decision, we can't help but think that with the other million options (if I am not exaggerating), one of which could have been the one. The one option that well suited us.
2.OPPORTUNITY COSTS - If I understand this right, the cost of choosing one between so many options make us feel that we will deprive ourselves of other great opportunities.
3.ESCALATION OF EXPECTATIONS - With the drive of competition and making everything accessible to us, from information to digital gadgets, we have raised our expectations of the world and even to ourselves. Somehow, we couldn't simply settle with anything less. With all the datum in our hands, we should arrive at what seemingly is a well calculated decision. As Barry said "There seemed to be no excuse for failure!"
4.SELF-BLAME - We burden ourselves with the impression that if we make a wrong decision, there's no one else to blame but ourselves.;(
His argument(which has raised a lot of eyebrows)is that the options given to people (with marketing strategies ek ek) should be narrowed down to a few simple ones. As he had stated, everybody needs a fishbowl.Limitations. A finite to the infinite. Not everybody is ready to embrace this principle. But then again, from his point of view, not everyone is ready or can handle too many choices in their hands. It makes perfect sense but even though the idea sounds simple,it is not.
His talk only validates that persons with low self esteem cannot make a reasonable decision and resort to quick fix solutions like fewer options. It is more conscientious though. But really, I am hoping more of a character building and moral formation than just giving a person fewer options. After all, a person who is focused and determined knows exactly what he/she wants. A person should not be rattled when faced with more choices or should I say more challenges.
In truth, there is really no wrong or right decision.One should not be afraid to make a decision. There is no better option. Only decisions that make us happy or choices that makes us wiser in the end.
(Come to think of it, I narrowed down decision making to 2...hahaha...I think I understand what he meant by fewer options then...hehehehe)Gulo!!
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