It Comes In Threes

When I heard mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City a couple of months ago, the Sunday sermon stuck to my senses for its significance. The priest was preaching the three most important things in life to make you happy:

1. Something significant to do.
2. Somebody to love.
3. Something to hope for.

The first one has something to do with answering one's calling in life. No matter how big or small, every task has its place in the grand scheme of things.  Whether it's inventing something like a human growth hormone or simply being the best mother in the world, life finds meaning by doing your purpose.

The second one isn't as easy to accomplish for some people. While some fall in and out of love like a ping-pong ball, some are left to wonder what real love is like. And despite the cynicism that revolves around love, people still embrace it when it comes back to their lives. Song in point: Queen's "Somebody to Love."

In my case, it doesn't help that I attract the wrong kind of men. I'm a creep magnet in need of an antidote, something like CREEPtonite perhaps to weaken their strength.

And what do we hope for in life? Become rich? Have a family? I used to have a list of things I hoped to do before turning thirty. A lot of the items are still undone.

This ornate wall decor of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was hanging in the small rest hut in my grandaunt's place in Roxas City, Capiz.

What Not To Wear (In Church)

Depending on a Catholic's cultural background, the dress code for church attendance may vary. I was amused to see this poster at the Our Lady of Good Voyage Shrine in Antipolo City.

Laws like the Louisiana Jones Act dictate what ought to be and what not ought to be, while church laws may require proper attire and even the proper way of receiving Holy Communion.

In my neighborhood parish in New Jersey, people wear tanktops and shorts especially during summertime. The priests don't mind. I'm sure God doesn't mind either, as long as your outfit doesn't border on lewdness and your intentions are pure.

Election Suggestion

They really should change the types of campaign paraphernalia allowed so that it's easier to remove and clean them up after the elections. Adhesive-types should be used less because of the hardship involved in scraping them off walls. Now that everyone's trying to be eco-conscious, there should also be a campaign-related legislation that mandates candidates to recycle their own campaign trash into usable products.

 And now that the election process is automated, will the use of security cameras be far behind? Maybe if the budget allows.

Beep-Beep, Jeep-Jeep-Yeah!

Behold, a Beatles-inspired jeepney: spotted in San Mateo, Rizal. Somebody’s obviously a fan of Beatles RockBand. The jeepney is still the king of Philippine public transport--your ride with an artful, customized hide used as a canvas of the owner’s personal pride. In this case, it’s all things related to the Fab Four. When will jeepneys end up at MoMA, I wonder?

The minimum fare is now seven pesos. I made it a point to carry a coin purse to store my commute-ready currency. While there’s the FX taxis for those who prefer to ride with airconditioning for an added rate, I still ride the jeepney for shorter distances. Besides, they’re faster. It also offers you the chance to people-watch and experience a close encounter of the “Jejemon” kind—which I recently had. Yesterday, I sat across a girl with braces grinning at her celfone-cum-TV receiver.

In this country still majorly spell-bound by Erap’s charm, most people can only speculate about Ford Taurus prices, Nissan 370Z prices, GMC Acadia prices, and Honda CR-V prices. Perhaps if I hung out at the Batasan Pambansa (Philippine Congress) parking lot, I’ll be able to see such cars…most likely bought with people’s hard-earned tax money.

My driving skills are challenged once again in this stick-shift-governed territory. I have manual driving amnesia, which is why I’m always a passenger while here in the Philippines. It’s a little embarrassing. I’m making up for it by volunteering as the paparazzi-on-board. I just hope I end up with enough photos to make our summer trip memorable.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Beans

There are things worth flying thousands of miles for, such as food. Summer in the Philippines makes one crave this cold cornucopia of all things sweet: the Halo-Halo.

I have a mental check-list of local food joints to indulge my intestines in. I'm trying to be careful enough not to have to resort to Dr. Natura Colonix in case I get too gastronomically adventurous. Next on my list is Tropical Hut hamburgers and their tasty chicken sandwiches, Greenwich Pizza's Garden Fresh Pizza, Goldilocks fresh spring roll with peanut sauce, fishballs with spicy sauce at U.P. Diliman campus.

That list isn't final.

Automated Frustration

I could have come up with the edgy title "Rage Against The Machines" for this post, but Conrado de Quiros beat me to it. The Philippines' first-ever automated nationwide elections proved to be historical with the introduction of the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines. What used to take days upon days of manual ballot-counting and sheets of manila paper now took only a few touches of the button and even less paper. Also, the need to decipher hieroglyphic handwriting on the ballots is obliterated, now you need only shade circles.

The lines, however, were terrible. My aunt and I arrived at the polling station around 8AM. The voters were herded into a confused cluster of queues which made the wait time extend to three hours, perhaps even more for some unfortunate ones. Three hours under the sun in order to shade circles for three minutes. Oh the suffering entailed by exercising the right of suffrage!

But that's not all! We didn't have electricity since five in the morning that day. What a convenient time for a power outage! Batteries aren't PCOS' best friend, it causes it to overheat! As if its technological tantrums aren't enough!

People tried to keep their cool and their sense of humor intact by cheering everytime the poll watchers ushered in a new batch of voters inside the classroom. Same cheering occurred everytime the election staffers passed by with bags of packed lunch and water bottles. Those pink candies from presidentiable Bayani Fernando weren't enough to keep our hunger at bay.

But despite the chaotic queues, the bigger benefit is that the electoral process is remarkably faster. Not all changes are smooth and glitch-free, but this is the direction that the technological tide is turning to.

Now please tell me how to cure my LSS dilemma with the Sex Bomb Dancers' song "May Bilog Na Hugis Itlog."

Who Let The Lights Out? (Who, Who, Who, Who?!)

Philippine politics takes one big leap into the future by using the controversial and expensive PCOS machines in its first ever automated nationwide elections. What an exciting time to be in the Philippines. However, some things never change. Like mysterious power outages on the eve of elections, and on the day of elections itself. Such was the case in our area. Electricity vanished at 5:30AM today and was restored by MERALCO only six hours later. The heat was truly on: both literally and politically speaking.

They say a couple of birds got caught in the power source. Because of this brownout, the poor PCOS machines in our precincts had to run on batteries. Apparently, the machines can't operate continuously on mere batteries, causing intervals of shutdowns, pissing off scores of voters in the process. A popular Beastie Boys song comes to mind.