R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Aretha Franklin was a great singer with an awesome voice. Her song “respect” is nothing short of a classic. But this entry is not about the song; but rather the word itself.

Lately, there are so many news on conflicts, crimes, intolerance and to some level “backstabbing”. In this day and age, freedom of speech is endless with blogs and social media like facebook, youtube, twitter etc. Although you might say that there are still limitations on what you can write or say; that doesn’t mean that there is no freedom.

Freedom needs to be understood. The definition of freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. But I don’t quite agree with that. We live in a civilised world and age. We have rules and regulations. Maybe rules are meant to be broken. But we are forgetting one important principle in life that is – RESPECT.

Everybody can exercise their freedom but with respect to one another. Respect is both given and received. Live your life having this principle and I can guarantee that you don’t break any rules or cause any physical or emotional to anyone – individual or a group.

Repect each others beliefs, thoughts, religion, culture, space, and just plain respect each other’s being. God made all of us unique with different purposes. We live in this community together and we need each other. Respect when you enter to someone else’s home, respect the other drivers and pedestrians on the road, respect your colleagues’ and clients’ time, respect your parents’ sacrifices, your siblings’ support and your spouses’ feelings, respect the person queueing in front or at the back of you, respect the person who is using the toilet after you.. simple things like that. All you need is respect. That’s why no matter how smart and brilliant you are without respect you are just as low.

In the National Education Blueprint, they tried to define what should we aspire our kids to be – knowledgeable, bilingual, ethical and spiritual, nationalistic, critical thinking and leadership. But one day, when I have a kid, one key principle that I want to instill is actually respect. When he/ she understands what respect is all the other 6 will come naturally. That is my strong belief. RESPECT. I hope that everybody will learn to respect each other and I hope I will always remember this and avoid my emotions taking over my actions.

Anyday now

I watched a movie 2 nights ago which is still affecting me deeply till today. I don’t remember watching a movie that has such impact on my personal feelings more than 48 hours after watching the movie and now I decided to blog about it. It is a movie called Anyday now; based on a true story.  The movie was set in the 1970s and touched upon legal and social issues. However, I felt that it is more than that and I will tell you why.

Rudy Donatello is a struggling musician and drag performer in a gay nightclub in 1970s, where he meets Paul Fleiger, a closeted district attorney. Returning home to his apartment, Rudy finds Marco, a 14-year-old with down syndrome, left alone after his mother, Marianna the junkie, had been arrested. Rudy takes in the abandoned boy, but Family Services intervenes and takes Marco to foster care. Rudy enlists Paul to help him gain custody of Marco and the two visit Marianna in prison to coax her into signing the temporary guardianship papers, which she does. All is well as Rudy and Paul become Marco’s guardians, but when Rudy and Paul’s relationship is called into question by the court system, the two men find themselves spiraling into a legal battle to become the legal and permanent guardians of the fascinating boy who showed them both the real joy of what it means to be a parent. The fact that it is a true story and that of course this boy, who loves happy ending, suffered a bad ending himself; shows that the world is extremely unfair.

People were prejudice because you’re gay, they prefer not to take you in if you have down syndrome – even Angelina Jolie would choose a healthy kid than to take someone who actually needs the love and care more. I must say that I myself am not very noble and quite selfish sometimes. The reason why I don’t think that it is not just a legal and social issue is because I think it is about morality, living together etc. God created us in this world to be different in skin colour, language, build, religion and beliefs. Maybe the true test for us on earth is how we live with each other. How much we care for each other. How selfless we are and put the needs of others.

I salute this lady when I watched Got to Dance UK who led a group called Dance for Joy and their performance just brings tears to my eyes. They formed 20 years go through the Alessendre Special Needs Dance School, in Whistlers Avenue, Battersea and practice every week. They have said if they win the competition they will spend the money on improving facilities at the dance school. Watch their amazing performance . P/s: One of the couples are engaged! Anything is possible…

Makati and Boracay Island

Day 1 – Makati

1400: Arrived at terminal 1 international airport, took the fixed rate cab at 330 pesos

1500: checked in at New World Hotel which is near GreenBelt 3. The hotel was modern and the location was great. It is within walking distance to Greenbelt and the Ayala Centre where you can get great food and entertainment. There is a nice garden in between the GreenBelt which has nice cafes and restaurants just for you to chill.

1530: Walked around greenbelt; had Jollibee for lunch. It was pretty crap and so I had my Aunty Anne’s pretzel. Jollibee is their local fast food chain. The portions were super small and they were tasteless. Their seasoning is only just ketchup. However, it was cheap. We then walked around the shopping centres and people watch.

1800: Went to The Spa at Greenbelt 1. It was really good and clean with shower facilities and steam bath for 1100 pesos each=2200 with tip 200 in total.

1930: For dinner we went to a very interesting chain called “Krazy Garlik“. Living up to the name, we had Great hara kiri and pizza which was awesome! Franchise idea? There was even a  SMS feedback with regards to the waiter that was assigned to our table to serve us.

Day 2 – Ayala Centre

1100: Had brunch at glorietta’s food court. Mongolian beef and seafood and Kalbi chicken which was interesting; cheap and filling

1200: Chilling by the centre and had one of the best coffee and ensaymadas at Bo’s coffee. Also to utilise their Wifi

1400: Tour around Manila, stop at memorial park, Rizal park, Manila cathedral and fort Santiago passing by Intramunos at 2100 pesos each = 4200 plus 100 tip

1900: Dinner at Nam Nam Comfort Filipino in GreenBelt 2

2000: Had bad coffee at Seattle’s Best Coffee at GreenBelt 3. But there were a lot of tourists and locals just chilling there.

Day 3 – Boracay Island

0900: Breakfast at Budu near GreenBelt which was a French place but super expensive and food wasn’t great.

1400: Arrived earlier due to change in flight. We flew Airphil Express which allowed us to change to the earlier flight because we were early. We were greeted by shuttle van, air conditioned boat with cold water and Quaker oat biscuit and offered mint all the way (as part of the services by Discovery Shores Hotel at Station 1).  Arrived at suite 304 with complimentary foot wash.

1500:  Had lunch at their restaurant called Island beef with tomato and cheese

1800: Walked by the beach – had Ice cream and Jonah’s shake – one of the best shake/smoothie on the island

1900: Went to D’mall near Station 2 – walked around the mall and had a caricature that costs 300 pesos  and tshirt painted with our names at 1700 pesos. Thought it was a creative souvenir. You get to choose your background etc. Every tuk tuk ride from one station to another is about 120 pesos. However, the hotel provides free shuttle.

2000: Dinner at Don Vito – an Italian restaurant at Station 3 which was mediocre

Day 4 – Boracay Island (Watersports)

1000: Island hopping 1500 pesos and snorkeling 40 pesos. One of the best snorkeling sites in terms of clear water and white sandy beach. The good thing about Boracay Island is that it tries to preserve itself. No smoking is allowed on the beach and all water activities is centred in the middle of the ocean.

1300: Lunch at Army Navy. Great Freedom Fries!!

1400: Jet ski 1800 and jet boat 2600

1900: Dinner at  D’mall at Cyma Greek cuisine; calamari, Greek onion soup, gambas pasta and crab pasta. One of the best meals we have ever had

2100: Had a drink at Hobbit House where everything is like the book and the waiters/ waitresses were small people

2200: Foot massage at Foot Seez; clean rendered by dept of health

Day 5 – Boracay Island (Watersports)

1100: Massage at Palassa spa 350 each = 700

1200: Helmet diving and Zorb 1000 each= 2000

1400: Lunch at yellow cab pizza at Station 2 by the beach

1600: Saw a Korean wedding by the beach which was super lovely. The best thing about the private beach in the hotel is when you choose your deck chairs; the waiters will come with an ice cold drink, cucumber for your eyes, cold tower and even clear your sunglasses for you. Talk about first class service! Definitely one of a kind.

2200: Dinner at Aria – mediocre Italian place by D’mall

2300: Had drinks and people watch at Summer Palace

Day 6 – Return

Advise is to fly into makati and take the Airphil Express to Caticlan as it is closer than Kalibo island. It only takes 2o minutes boat ride from Caticlan to Boracay. Discovery Shores also provide comfortable guest room for us to wait at the airport. All the other flights were delayed except for Airphil Express which was pretty much on time.

Verdict: Boracay is a beautiful clear and untouchable island!