The Coffee Press

My 2011 in numbers

ashte — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:43:41 +0000

As I welcome 2012, I flipped through my 2011 Angel-in-us planner to see what have kept me occupied last year. I must admit that I had better years than 2011, but it definitely had its awesome moments. In the spirit of my random lists and what-nots, I present my 2011 in numbers:

16–Units I taught in my first semester as a college instructor. I have taught high school and grade school before, so in 2011, I thought I’d try to teach in college. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to teach mathematics and chemistry. Like before, I had some trouble with teaching lab (Students accidentally breaking glassware caused me some stress), but teaching again made me realize just how much I enjoy it. I also thought I want some face time with my friends, so I came back to not one but two of my old workplaces. Talk about going in circles eh? In a good way of course

16–Gigs I attended. I think this number would have been higher if Sugarfree did not disband in the earlier part of the year. I learned about the disbandment through Tina, and I would have cried that moment if I were not in the middle of a supermarket. How I love Sugarfree and their music, and how I miss seeing them perform together! The final gig in Eastwood last March was totally emotional. Imagine standing for hours in the pouring rain, listening to sad love songs? T-T

Despite the disbandment of three of my beloved bands (the other two are Bamboo and REM), I still had my Pinoy music fix all year round courtesy of Johnoy Danao’s Dapithapon, Noel Cabangon’s Panaginip, Pupil’s Limiters of the Infinity Pool, Ebe Dancel’s Dalawang Mukha ng Pag-ibig, and RockEd’s Rock Rizal, whose tracks you can download from here. Oh, and guess who was with me at Ebe’s album launch and at the Rock Rizal gig? Nanay

14–Rapids in my first water rafting experience in the City of Golden Friendship, Cagayan De Oro. This trip was made possible through the generosity of a friend, which made it really special.Throw in some football action with crazy/awesome fans, mad ukay-ukay at Divisoria, eco-trail walk/run, and sumptuous dinner treat by Sir Hector and his family to the whitewater rafting adventure, and what did I get? Crazy/fun!

Conquering the rapids of Cagayan river

I really had a wonderful time at CDO so it was devastating when I learned how much damage Sendong had done to it as well as to Iligan and other nearby areas. I am grateful to those who are tirelessly working to help the survivors. We can all do something to help. Click here if you want to help Sendong survivors through the Philippine Red Cross.

10–Football games I saw live. If 2008 was a year of travel; 2009, music; and 2010, hospital stay, 2011 was a year of the beautiful game for me. Since seeing my first full game on TV in February, I have seen games at the University of Makati field, Rizal Memorial Stadium, and Pelaez Stadium in CDO. The most memorable one for me so far was against Sri Lanka for the World Cup qualifiers. Such an epic win for the Azkals!

Sakka ga daisuki desu.

My football craziness has gone beyond the national team. For example, I woke up at 5 AM to catch El Clasico. My wish list now includes Lionel Messi and Homare Sawa kits. Paging fairy godmother/father *wink*wink*

8–Pinoy films I watched in cinemas. I know this number is low, but I think it is an improvement for me from previous years. I particularly enjoyed Jerrold Tarog’s Senior Year and Jade Castro’s Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington. Why did it feel like Eugene Domingo was in all the Pinoy films I saw in 2011? She was in four of eight

I missed quite a number of highly recommended films due to time and financial constraints. I hope they would be available in original DVD so that I can still see them.

7–Running events I participated in. I ran mostly for causes I believed in, but there were a couple of events I joined because I wanted to run with a friend (Yakult run) or to run at night (Energizer Night Run).

Running is one of the things I want to do seriously for 2012. Two of my closest friends are training for their first full marathon. Can I do half in September? *thinks* *smiles*

4–Locations from where I saw Mayon Volcano. I find it strange though that in a place where Mayon is the main attraction, I was not able to find a good postcard of it for my cousin Angel. We both saw Wong Kar Wai’s My Blueberry Nights so we thought we would send postcards to each other from wherever we are. I actually did this even before, but I sent the postcard to a different person each time haha!

Anyways, the volcano is indeed a beauty. It is visible from many areas in Legazpi City but my best view was from Lignon Hill Park early in the morning. Nanay and I also viewed it from the Cagsawa Ruins, Embarcadero de Legazpi, and Mayon Planetarium.

Hello Mayon, it’s me Tesha.

3–Davids I came to see in person. Those would be David Archuleta, David Beckham, and David Choi. More music and more football, yey!The saddest thing is my wallet’s condition

1/2–Book I wrote. This one has caused me unnecessary grief and anxiety. I know that I should be proud of it and grateful for the opportunity, but I think I will be more grateful and prouder of my future works (talaga lang! haha!)

In between I have countless manuscript pages, test questions, caffeine and sugar intake, K-dramas, J-doramas, and real-life dramas. So what’s in store for 2012? More of the awesome stuff I hope.

Happy New Year!

Azkals on billboards and TVC

ashte — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:33:39 +0000

After all the brouhaha over the “men in briefs” billboards, I don’t think there will be any Neil Etheridge F&H billboard along EDSA-Guadalupe (Sayang! haha). However, there remain a number of billboards featuring the Azkals along my route on my way to work. Of course there are the TV commercials which include those of James and Phil for Kenny Rogers; James for Silver Swan vinegar and Highlands corned beef; the team for Silver Swan soy sauce and Cortal SQR; and Aly, Chieffy, Ian, and Coach Weiss for San Miguel Beer, which was my favorite until this one came out today:

The Azkals are proudly Pinoy

ashte — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:50:55 +0000

Every Azkal has Filipino blood running through his veins, the very reason why he can represent the country in international competitions. However, some people do not seem to be happy that our national team is composed mostly of Fil-foreigners: Fil-Brits James and Phil Younghusband, Neil Etheridge, Rob Gier, and Greatwich brothers Phil, Chris, and Simon; Fil-Germans Manny Ott, Stephan Schrock, and Patrick Hinrichsen; Fil-Americans Jason Sabio, OJ Porteria, and Nate Burkey; Fil-Spanish Angel Guirado Aldeguer; Fil-Dutch Paul Mulders and Jason de Jong; Fil-Iranian Misagh Bahadoran; Fil-Danish Jerry Lucena; and Fil-Icelandic Ray Jonnson. (I am sure I am missing some Azkals here as the lineup keeps changing due to availability or inavailability of some players at different stages of the competitions.) Even team captain Aly Borromeo and Anton del Rosario, although now both locally based, were born and raised in the US. Being a new follower of the sport, I can only surmise the reason for some people’s unhappiness or discontent. Perhaps they feel that foreign-based players are taking the positions that should have gone to local players. Perhaps they think that had the powers that be did their jobs, the Philippines has a deep enough bench and does not have to call on its foreign-based players.

I think we have very talented pureblood players (Sorry, can’t resist making a Harry Potter reference hehe), or the local Azkals. Chieffy Caligdong, Ian Araneta, Roel Gener, and Yanti Bersales, who has recently retired from the national team, have been with the team for many years. Chieffy, Ian, and Roel are a joy to watch. They are all heart when they play. Chieffy in particular has been consistently good in all of the games I have seen him play. I was privileged to see Yanti play with the Azkals for the last time at the Azkals-UFL Allstars match. Then there are the younger Azkals such as Paolo Pascual and Christopher Camcam.

At this point, we can’t deny that the foreign-based players have the experience and exposure to the level of football needed to win international matches. I am positive that with the resurgence of Filipinos’ interest in football, the time will come when we will be more competitive with more local Azkals.

But local or foreign-based, I love the Azkals because they are proud of their Pinoy roots. Well some of the Azkals still fumble on the words of Lupang Hinirang, but this does not make them any less Pinoy. Whenever they win, it is the Philippine flag they wave, which is what Nate Burkey did after the Manila leg of the match against Sri Lanka.

Ten things I love about the PHL Azkals

ashte — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:32:32 +0000

I started the draft for this post after I got back from the We Believe campaign last June 10 when I saw some of the Azkals for the first time. The Azkals have already made Philippine football history and I have yet to finish this post. Hence, I think I will make this one a series of posts.

Originally, this post is about why I believe in the Philippine National Football team. But with the Azkals’ rise in popularity come the haters and nonbelievers, and so inspired by the film 10 Things I Hate About You, I present the ten things I love about the PHL Azkals:

The Azkals are proudly Pinoy.
They are dreamers.
They are doers.
They make good use of their celebrity status.
They have a sense of humor.
They are social media savvy.
They are a mixed bag.
They look good on magazine covers, TVCs, and billboards.
They treat fans well.
They make us fall in love with the beautiful game.

Pieces of Rizal

ashte — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:44:29 +0000

I promised Nanay I would take her to the Rizal Shrine in Calamba for her 65th birthday. Jose Rizal and she share the same birth month after all. However, some circumstances kept me from taking her on her birthday. I was bent on fulfilling my promise, so I planned again on taking her last June 12th. When I asked Ms. N, my former editor-in-chief who lives in Calamba, for directions to the Rizal Shrine, she advised me to take Nanay when the tallest monument of Rizal has been unveiled.

The unveiling was last Saturday, June 19th, the very day of Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary. It was raining rather heavily, but checking online for updates on the scheduled events, I learned that everything was pushing through. Although Nanay and I left home later than we initially planned, we went on our way.

I used to know a lot about Jose Rizal. To me, he was more than the guy in the blue two-peso paper bill back then. The section I belonged to in Grade 6 and in fourth year was named after him. There was even a concrete bust of him at the flagpole area in my elementary school. In high school, unlike those who read either the comic books or the Cliff Notes equivalent of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, I patiently read the “thick” versions. I remember writing chapter titles on the chalkboard for my teacher and classmates, and religiously writing a summary of each chapter on my notebook. I was even inspired by a line from El Fili to write an essay for the school paper.

I learned more about Rizal’s life and works in the required Rizal course in college. My professor told us that Rizal’s nickname was Pepe, an abbreviation for padre putativo, which is Spanish for foster father, because Rizal was named after San Jose, Jesus’ foster father. He made us read Renato Constantino’s Veneration Without Understanding. For Spanish class, I had to memorize at least three stanzas of Mi Ultimo Adios, one of Rizal’s last pieces of writing.

As I have forgotten Spanish for lack of use, I have also forgotten many of the things I used to know about Rizal. They have given way to the many other things that I need or want to know.

Taking Nanay on a ”field trip” to Calamba and then to Fort Santiago became more than a fulfillment of a promise; it made me remember what I know about Rizal. I also learned some things about him that I did not know before. Once more, I am in awe of who he was, what he did, and what he stands for. However, this time, I will strive to remember longer.

My rock/star turns 65

ashte — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:07:50 +0000

Sometimes I call her Mommy, which is how the grandchildren call her. When I’m being playful, I call her 어머니 or お母さん. Most of the times, she’s simply Nanay.

My rock/star

She keeps me grounded. She inspires me to soar. Roots and wings: she has given me everything I could ever ask for.
To my rock and star: happy 65th birthday.

Almost perfect weekends (Part 1)

ashte — Sun, 22 May 2011 08:35:12 +0000

I’m writing this on the third weekend of May. The previous weekends were full of awesomeness and a lot of my most favorite things such as music, comic books, and food. These were the events that made May weekends almost perfect:

Free Comic Book Day at Comic Odyssey Robinsons Galleria, May 7

Let me digress a bit. I stopped buying comic books for some time due to some financial considerations, but there are just comic book issues that I have to have. Action Comics #900 is one of those. I mean, how many comic book titles have reached this number right? So off I went to Planet X Trinoma to buy me a copy; they didn’t have one anymore. The staff was kind enough though to call Comic Odyssey to ask them to reserve me a copy. When I went to pick it up (which by the way felt like I was in a scene in The Big Bang Theory), I was invited to Free Comic Book Day the following Saturday.

I knew about Free Comic Book Day, but I had never been to one. But from following some local and foreign comic book creators, I learned that it would be big this year because it’s the tenth year of FCBD. How big? Comic Odyssey gave away 30,000+ comic books! At first I thought they were just kidding, but they did give away that many. First 600 got a bagful of comic books, and got to choose 3 among the many titles of comic books produced especially for FCBD. I got 2 copies of Kung Fu Panda/Richie Rich, and a copy of Young Justice/Batman The Brave and the Bold for my homies.

Also, I finally bought the Eisner award-winning All-star Superman Volumes 1 and 2, and two other back issues. Two hours spent in line at Comic Odyssey was worth it. I would have stayed to meet and greet some of the great local comic book people, but I had another date. Thanks and until the next comic book sale, Comic Odyssey!

Lee DeWyze Live! at Venice Piazza, May 7

Photo (C) The Piazza at Venice, McKinley www.facebook.com/VenicePiazza

Lee DeWyze was the other date First, I must confess that I rooted for Crystal Bowersox during Season 9 finale of American Idol. But it didn’t mean that I don’t like Lee. I do like him, and now that I have seen him perform live and listened to his album Live It Up, I must say that I like him more. Solid guitar playing, heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics, Lee has everything that wins me over in a musician. I wished he played Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” that night, but I was happy enough with U2′s “Beautiful Day.” Awesome. And that’s just his first song haha! I’m definitely going again when he comes back.

Special thanks goes to Laya, Mommy Pia and Daddy Joel, Bel, and Gugoy I wouldn’t have seen Lee DeWyze if it wasn’t for you.

Binondo Food Trip, May 8

May 8 was Mother’s Day, and I spent it with one of the most beautiful moms I know, my kumare Mhean, and her three children Aga, Andrei, and Anjo on a food trip in Binondo. There were just too many good places to pig out at in Binondo, so I asked co-workers and Google’s help, and we ended in Wai Ying in Benavidez St.

We ordered a quarter of roasted peking duck, chicken feet, siomai, fried rice, and the bomb: curry fried dumpling. Sorry, no picture of the curry fried dumpling. As you can see, we were an impatient lot. We wiped our plates clean in an hour or so. But really, if you are into curry as I am, you really should try Wai Ying’s.

A quarter roasted peking duck, Php275

An order has four pieces. (We were obviously impatient to eat them haha!)

After having brunch at Wai Ying, we went to Divisoria to do some shopping. We had to cut the shopping short for Starbucks’ Happy Hour. Who can resist frappuccinos at half the price? Obviously not I and a number of folks from Binondo.

Pupil’s Limiters of the Infinity Pool Mall Tour, SM Marilao, May 8

Pupil played tracks from their album Limiters of the Infinity Pool

May 8 was rainy; Pupil’s mall show started two hours late. But I think I will never mind waiting for Ely, Yan, Dok, and Wendell. Also, I wished my fangirling buddies Tina and Elvira were with me. The mall show was enjoyable, and I would have loved to stay. But there were manuscripts waiting to be edited at home. Sigh.

And the first almost perfect weekend of May dissolved just like that.

Giant pandas

ashte — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:23:16 +0000

There are two giant pandas wrestling in my room, although only until the end of April. In May, only one giant panda will be lying here. In June, the panda Eats, Shoots & Leaves :)

The giant pandas are actually in the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) wall calendar that my friend L gave me. Nope, it’s not for my birthday. It’s Christmas in April L has always been a staunch supporter of WWF and giant pandas. I put it up in my wall in celebration of Earth Day 2011, which was pushed back a few days (April 25th instead of 22nd) in the Philippines to give way to the observance of Good Friday.

Like L, I find giant pandas to be fascinating. How can animals that big look so cute?

Running for a cause, running for Japan

ashte — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:55:37 +0000

I had never been the athletic type. In fact, my lowest grades in high school were in Physical Education. At university, despite the many choices we had for P.E., I enrolled in P.E. 1 which is a Foundations course. I took karate and taekwondo but up to now I wonder how I managed to get passing marks. The last P.E. course I took was bowling, and I was so bad I kept pulling my team’s average down. Those were the last physical activities I remember engaging in. There were attempts to get into boxing (I bought a pair of gloves) and aerodancing (I bought the MTV Grind video) but exercising alone at the comfort of one’s own room is not for me. Neither am I the type to spend serious bucks at a gym.

Then a friend invited me to run for a cause. The cause part was of course not a problem. The run part obviously was. I hesitated because my friend and her family are running regularly already. Moreover, I was afraid I was going to embarrass myself by not finishing or by being the last one to finish. But this friend is really wise. She already paid for my registration fee so there was no backing out.

Run for a cause

My first run was more walk than run, but I had a lot of fun. That was in May last year. I have joined three more running events since, and I am liking running more and more. So far, I have run to support causes/groups I strongly believe in: KerygmaFamily.com‘s ministries, Milo’s Help Give a Child a Pair of Shoes, and The Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation’s The EDSA Run.

Run for Japan

I have never been to Japan, but it’s a special place for me. I have a Japanese friend and friends who have family members working or residing there. It’s heartbreaking what the tsunami did to northeast Japan coastal villages. I continue to pray for Japan and its people but like many people, I wish I could do more. This may not be much but on April 17, I am running for Japan. Do you want to Run for Japan too? Proceeds will be donated directly to Japan Red Cross as per advice of the Japan Embassy. I hope to see you there!

Be part of the Summer Fun @ Aklatan!

ashte — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 03:36:03 +0000

Be a Volunteer

Spend a couple of hours of your week with the kids in one our Aklatan either storytelling, facilitating arts and crafts workshops, leading educational games or sports, tutoring, or teaching music or dance or other learning activities you can think of to keep our kids busy, busy, busy learning and having fun this summer!

You can volunteer in any of Eduk, Inc.’s following partner Aklatang Pambata or learning resource centers:

Aklatang Pambata/Narcisa Abiad Community Library
Brgy. Paltok, SFDM, Quezon City
Contact Ate Nilda @ 0917-5570582

RYB Aklatang Pambata
Brgy. 129, Balut, Tondo, Manila
Contact Ms Virgie @ 0928-4798258

The Ed Abcede Memorial (TEAM) Library
Brgy. Gulang-gulang, Lucena City
Contact Atty Sunshine @ 0922-8776054

Macrobio Lim Memorial Libray
Nayong Tsinoy, Phase 7-C, Bagong Silang, Caloocan
Contact Teacher Mia @ 0923-5958682

Aklatang Bayan and Bahay Karunungan
Towerville, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan
Contact Ms Julie Aldaba | julie.ann.aldaba@gmail.com

GK Amparo I Aklatang Pambata
Ananapla, Amparo, Brgy. 179, Caloocan City
Contact Tita Minia @ 0908-8729980

Or you can contact Edukasyon para sa Kinabukasan, Inc. (EDUK, INC.) at edukinc@gmail.com or thru its program managers:

Joyce Castaneda @ 0920-2851067 | joycepcastaneda@yahoo.com
Karen Panol @ 0922-8008783 | kpanol@yahoo.com

Donate

You can donate in cash or in kind. Our libraries are in need of the following:

Storybooks (for ages 5-12)
School supplies (paper, pens, glue, etc)
Art supplies (crayons, paints, brushes, etc)
Educational toys/games (chess boards, scrabble and other board games, etc.)
Mats/banig
English and Filipino videos (movies, animations, educational films)

To donate, please contact Edukasyon para sa Kinabukasan, Inc. (EDUK, INC.) at edukinc@gmail.com or the following:

Joyce Castaneda @ 0920-2851067 | joycepcastaneda@yahoo.com
Karen Panol @ 0922-8008783 | kpanol@yahoo.com