It’s not the monarch neither the Spice Girls. It’s not Elton John neither J. R. R. Tolkien. Though I admire the wit of Stephen Hawking and at awe with Margaret Thatcher, it’s not them. The British human being who I envy the most when it comes to world travel is the effervescent Joanna Lumley.
Joanna thru her series of British TV travel shows feature amazing spots on the planet and showcase interesting cultures around the world! What is so enviable about this travel diva is that she got to go around and got a bunch of travel-savvy production team who will do the chronicling for her!
I was at awe with Joanna’s enchanting Trans-Siberian adventures. I enjoyed her splendid exploits of the inestimable Japan from north to south. And how I wish I will be granted with the gift of travel for I was truly envious with her Silk Road adventures!
I have read somewhere that travel envy can happen to anyone. It is caused by emotional discontent, frustration, feeling left out, the tendency for endless comparison and even social media. In my case, it would be a mix of all of these combined with being stuck for a year due to this crazy pandemic.
I too read that one way to cope with travel envy is to turn such envy into inspiration, that is by planning the next adventure. But it looks like planning for an out of the country escapade now seem unrealistic.
I would rather practice gratefulness and reminisce about my past trips. Good thing I have this blog because reading through some of my travel posts decreases the intensity of my feeling jealous.
And while I was busy basking on these feelings of envy towards the British travel muse, I paused for a while not knowing how to end this invaluable writing. I turned to my Facebook for a break and this very fitting photo struck me.
I am again stuck, jammed and fixed over a Korean TV series. And the stars of Start Up – the Korean TV I am baffled with – are just seriously gorgeous. They seem to have been blessed by the angels and kissed by the heavens to possess flawless radiant skin, fit physique and impeccable angelic faces. They are beautiful!
Nam Joo-hyuk… beautiful even when asleep!
Bae Suzy… loads of pretty-ness!
My niece is five months pregnant now. Here in the Philippines we have the strong cultural notion and belief that during conception, the baby’s physical attributes is strongly influenced by the mother’s habitual activities and mental state during pregnancy. We indiscreetly believe that there is a direct correlation between what the pregnant mother usually eats and perceives with that of the physical attributes and personality of the baby when born.
I in particular, when my mom was pregnant on me, according to her, she irrationally craved and would usually gobble bowls of coconut milk in one seating. That is why she was not surprised when I was born my skin was a little lighter as compared to my siblings and fairer than the usual brown-chocolate Malay-Pacific Islander race. One letdown though, I have attributed my having very oily skin to the coconut milk loading exploit of my mom during her pregnancy.
Yeah, unlike the flawless epidermis of Korean stars seen on Netflix whose sweat glands seem to secrete glitters, I suffer from oily skin when I grew up. My face is so oily it could launch another Gulf War on the planet!
the skin that can launch another oil dispute on the planet! Hahaha!
And now that my niece is pregnant, we would often persuade her to spend most of her days watching Korea novelas (also known as K Dramas) with the hopes that her baby would look super gorgeous. But I know for sure that no matter how my soon to be grandniece or grandnephew would look and behave, he/she would be well loved and cutely gorgeous in his/her own way. His or her having flawless radiant skin like those gorgeous Koreans would just be but an awesome plus factor.
I recently read an article which acknowledges the existence of Philippine-English. It is an English language variety that is different from American, British and Australian English-es. Philippine English is so prevalent – thanks to the big population of Filipinos on the planet – that it has officially been acknowledged as an acceptable English language variant. It is so unlike the other English-es that it actually has its own slang and peculiar accent.
grew up watching this!
I have long acknowledged that I learned speaking the English language during my early childhood years by regularly watching Sesame Street (a TV show in American English). But after I have outgrown my liking for it, my learning the English language has continued thru my childhood fondness for the old Japanese anime TV series Voltes V (pronounced as Voltes Five) dubbed in English.
I can truly say that Voltes V – which was controversially banned by dictator President Marcos in 1979 due to its underlying theme of rebellion and revolution – plays a big chunk in honing my knowledge of English as a language.
Unlike the most recent rerelease of this TV anime series which was dubbed in Tagalog-Filipino language, the original one released in the 70’s in the Philippines was dubbed in English. What is so atypical with the original series shown in the Philippines is that it was dubbed by native Filipinos speaking the English language.
I recently re-watched the first 2 episodes of the series (thankfully available on YouTube) dubbed in English and I can truly distinguish that the English language utilized was the classic example of how a Philippine-English is along with its distinctive accent. My way of saying “comfortable buffalo” is so different from how Americans would say it! Ask your native-Filipino workmate and an American friend to say these words for you to know the difference.
Sad to note though, that a big number of young Filipinos now can’t speak nor write proper English may it be of whatever English language variant. One reason maybe is because shows now prevalent in various forms of media in the Philippines are now spoken or dubbed in the local Filipino language.
I am not saying that Filipino language is a bad thing. What I would just like to say is that knowing a second language is a weapon, a faculty, a gift.
say “comfortable”!
I can’t seem to identify an English-dubbed or English-spoken TV show in the last 10 years shown in the Philippines that became trendy or popular among the youth which can be acknowledged later on in their life as a basis of their learning another language.
If given the power, I would re-release Voltes V in Netflix! The version would no doubt be the old Philippine-English dubbed edition for the present kiddos of today to watch and learn. And if present kids now would reject watching it and prefers some lame and boring Filipino-dubbed TV series, me and my fine Philippine-English speaking generation would definitely look forward to watching it.
I was once a big fan of the Filipino edition of Big Brother reality show. I was such a huge follower especially during the pilot season, I once wanted to audition and be part of the show. But due to very long queues of people also wanting to live inside the house, I never had the courage to enlist myself or tryout for a possible slot as a housemate.
Years after, on a night that I had the opportunity to watch an episode of the latest edition of Pinoy Big Brother (now on its 7th season), I got to view the face-to-face nominations among housemates. And from the present and remaining housemates, the majority of their reasons for nominating another house buddy to be evicted from the house was because they find this housemate as a big threat from their winning. These housemates would further explain that the ultimate reason why they chose to nominate their nominee was because the concerned housemate was very good during physical challenges.
Physical challenges inside the Pinoy Big Brother house are mini-contests or activities in which chosen nominees for eviction battle it out to win the activity. Physical challenges would require physical stamina and mental cleverness. The housemate who wins the physical challenge shall be saved and will not be included in the week’s nominated housemate for eviction.
the weaklings… i’m not surprised everybody are still inside the house
the under performers on the safe zone… i’m not surprised the deserving dude in this group has been evicted
the strong, witty and deserving…. i won’t be surprised that this group will soon be totally evicted, only 2 strong contenders in this group remain, they are subjected to physical challenges week after week
And true enough and due to such prevalent reasons of the present crop of housemates during the nomination night, the possible evictees on this week’s elimination are those who seem to possess huge personalities with competent mental and physical capabilities.
This makes me sad for the show because if all personalities with proficient skills, talented flairs and brilliant cleverness would be kicked out, then the Big Brother house would end up with weak, futile and absurd inhabitants! And true enough the present crop of housemates who were saved for this week’s nomination are a bunch of weaklings, dense and dimwitted lots.
If I am a housemate, I would nominate the weaklings inside. I will nominate the spineless and the doormat. I will propose that the weak and feeble be kicked out from the house. They don’t deserve to win! I will let the strong and clever stay. It is because I wanna be surrounded by people with tough and stalwart personas, I wanna be hemmed in with people with brilliant minds and clever thinking. These are the types who deserves to be the Big Winner!
what happened???
In the past season, Pinoy Bog Brother was a big deal because you are viewed as the earthling who has the impeccable wit, the amiable social skills and the agreeable personality that represents what a true Filipino should be. But if the present reality show would continue to slant the show on how weaklings are gonna win, then I would no longer want to be the Big Winner of the Big Brother house. Winning is like saying you’re the weakest housemate and that people commiserates with you. The reason why you won is because people feels sorry for you! That sucks!
Thus, if this is how the game is gonna be played and how the show is gonna turn out, I’m pretty sure, those who has been evicted from the Pinoy Big Brother house are so very happy that they have gone out. This only means that these should-be-glad evictees are not the weakest link of the show!
And for me, I am as glad as that of the evictees, because I am no longer hooked by this show!
It’s already midday Tuesday in Manila before night time falls in California. Does this means that we in Manila needs to be more patient and takes more time to wait before we could watch the next dance routine of JT and Robert?
a magical tandem
this cute boy is a great storyteller
That’s exactly what I thought when I patiently waited for the airing of SYTYCD: The Next Generation season after they were gone for 2 weeks to give way to the airing of the Summer Olympics. And when I saw the phenomenal Mr. Jobangles routine, my impatience just suddenly vanished. It was worth the wait!
JT and Robert on the dance floor are simply magical! They’re the best thing I’ve ever seen on SYTYCD! Their partnership is something so joyous. Their routines week after week speaks volumes! Their routines are no longer about the technicality of their dance moves. It’s no longer about their having good lines and flexibility. It’s already about awesome and touching storytelling in which happy chemicals are emitted by the people who sees their dance performances.
A considerable amount of my time growing up during my pre and early teen years was spent by watching the original cartoon animation series The Superbook. It is an anime series that chronicled the events in the Bible’s Old and New Testament.
joy, chris and gizmo
The Bible in its written form can be so intensely deep and enormously ornate in words, idiolect and terminologies. Because of this, its thoughts, teachings and philosophies can be at times so difficult to understand. Because of this, The Superbook then was my early basis and reference on how to understand the stories and teachings of the Bible.
And from among all episodes of this valuable anime series during the 1980s (including its re-runs dubbed in Filipino language), never did I saw Christian, Joy and their toy robot Gizmo encounter an episode that being gay and falling in love with a person of the same sex or gender is a sin.
Maybe it is because the creators of The Superbook series knows that it does not take a person to read, know and understand the Bible to realize that falling in love is not a sin. I guess The Superbook creators knew that love is universal and that love is beautiful. I guess The Superbook knows that there’s no book on “how” and there’s no book on “who” when in comes to love.
One of the few failures I had when I was in New York was my unable to be part of the studio audience at NBC’s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. The awesome show has consistently and continuously been a source of viral videos. The show which usually features fun celebrity games, hilarious yet witty comedic monologues, fantastic musical renditions and interview of A-list guests is taped and recorded in an NBC studio at the Rockefeller Center in New York City.
feeling like an nbc celebrity…
It was a long shot of an aim to succeed anyway because I failed to reserve even a single ticket months before my New York arrival. And I do not have the audacity to queue in line so early in the morning so as to be chosen as a standby audience hoping for the reserved ticket holders to die or meet an accident or catch some communicable disease so that they would not show up.
The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon is not shown in the Philippines, but due to the magic of the internet I got to see lots of clips and episodes of the show via Youtube. My favorite thing about the show aside from Jimmy Fallon himself is that he gets the celebrities do fun things. It lets you see celebrities being out of their element and in ways you’ve never usually see them.
And from what I have seen, Jimmy Fallon for me is the coolest breathing human being in America. His hilarious jokes are spot-on. He sings well, he acts well, he laughs at his feebleness and is indeed very adorable. It actually doesn’t hurt that he looks way way better as compared to his late night show host predecessors. In fact, if I am to marry a dude in America, I want that person to be just like Jimmy Fallon.
And since I obviously am a fan, during my New York journey, the nearest ways for me to get close to the endearing Fallon was this…
1. I bought myself lots of Jimmy Fallon merchandise…
collectibles!!!
2. I had a photo taken with Jimmy Fallon himself… (thanks to Madame Tussauds in Washington DC)
a celebrity idolizing another celebrity
such a cool show
feeling close!
Jimmy Fallon and his Tonight Show gives me good enough reason to return to New York…
66 Perry Street, Manhattan is my most desired apartment destination on my on-going New York adventure. This is because this is the very address where an open-minded and independent New Yorker with unique fashion sense lives. Her name is Carrie Bradshaw.
66 Perry Street, Manhattan is the very apartment where Carrie would write the various relationship spectrums she would deal with in life. These relationships would focus on herself, her colleagues, the people of New York and of course her friends. Their names are Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.
picture muna
the perry street neighborhood…
carrie bradshaw (not my photo, of course)
66 Perry Street, Manhattan is the very apartment where deep contemplations were carried out. It is also were the moments Carrie’s happiness as well as loneliness were assessed. This is where the complicated and entangled situations with the love of her life are pondered upon. His name is Mr. Big.
66 Perry Street, Manhattan is the now-iconic-apartment where I and a young friend Amiel (sweet kikay niece of Jhong) went to so as to take a photo of ourselves to prove that we indeed were big fans of the movie and tv sitcom series Sex And The City. Other apartments were equally gorgeous (if not more than gorgeous) and were without the restrictions to step on the stairs. Channeling our inner Sex And The City vibe, we of course took the chance to pose and take some photos…
Never did I posted anything about the new X Factor Australia winner, Marlisa Punzalan, while the show was running. It is because I don’t want to cause any sumpa (curse) or negative effect to her fate and universe.
x factor australia 2014 winner
But honestly, I have been watching this young lady ever since the X Factor Australia has started this year. I know for a fact that she is actually the first one featured during the audition segments of the show. I followed this newly concluded talent show, maybe because of the reverberating feelings of joy and my overindulgence in its 2013 version when the superlative Dami Im won.
A week before the grand finale, I already had the impression that this young lady will win. The reason is not because of her tender age, nor her looks and neither her amazing talent. Three coherent reasons rolled up into my mind right after the semi-final round.
Winning the Toughest Battle
This is because during the semi-final bout she defeated Reigan Derry, the most excellent and the most seasoned among all contestants in this series. I cannot imagine how perennial favorite Reigan Derry being beaten by the other 2 finalists, Brothers 3 and Dean Ray. Reigan with her incredible pipes would easily beat these two other finalists to smithereens in case Dean or Brothers3 would be at the bottom two and perform back-to-back with her.
best showdown of the series!
Thus, before the grand finale, Marlisa Punzalan has already successfully hurdled the hardest challenge she would be faced with during the entire run of the series. For me, the semi-final round was actually more exhilarating than the grand finale. The grand finale was just a matter of confirming Marlisa’s crown.
Australia’s Enduring Love for the Underdog
When Marlisa got into the finals, everybody thinks that she would simply end up being a third placer. Even judge/mentor Redfoo after the semi-final round immediately predicted that Dean is the one to beat. Even online betting website SportsBet predicted that Dean would be bestowed the 2014 title. Dean Ray exhales the funky rock of breath trough out the show that is why everybody expects him to win.
the three rays of sunshine…
funky rocker!
Nonetheless, the whole Australia was gearing Brothers 3 to possibly snatch the title from Dean because these “three rays of sunshine” got the ever reliable cutey-boyband formula. Also, they have been identified halfway through the live shows to have received the most number of votes. Moreover, it would have been a very good promotional angle of story in case the first ‘wild card’ contestant wins the show. Thus, Brothers3 and Dean Ray prior to the grand final were considered the un-proclaimed winners. They were simply the Goliaths of the program!
But Australians (like Filipinos) love an underdog. They would not let a simple-looking lady lacking of self confidence be simply in the side light. It is of human nature to feel that those who have less power are deemed virtuous and noble. Human beings in general love the underdogs because each of us knows what it feels like to be a loser, to be brushed aside or to be a David in a world full of Goliaths.
Let me cap this reason with Ronan Keating’s beautiful wisdom when he was commenting on Marlisa’s performance during the semi-final, which illustrates Marlisa being an underdog. That he is still faithful on the thought that not all good girls finish last. That statement I suppose struck a nerve to the whole of Australia.
Shining at the Right Moment
At the initial phase of the show, Marlisa exhibited good performances but nothing spectacular compared to other contestants. I particularly loved her performance during the boot camp portion of the program, Jessica Mauboy’s Never Be The Same. But during her performance in front of John Legend, who would assist Ronan on picking his top 3 contenders for the live shows, she faltered big time.
During the first few weeks of the live shows, she was simply sailing through. Viewers and even other judges/mentors were particularly concerned because Ronan could not seem to tap the right song that would best fit Marlisa’s age, tone and range.
She was lucky enough that other contestants gave inferior performances compared to her. She even performed the worst performance in the whole show when she sang Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi while suffering from severe illness, in which, she was nevertheless praised by the judges for her guts and professionalism. During these times, other contestants were delivering the best performances of their lives. They were peaking at those moments.
Unfortunately for these other contestants (except for the shoo-in Reigan Derry), they failed to sustain the high points in their performances while the show near its end. Fortunately for Marlisa, she seems to simply just starting to oil up. She was gaining confidence in her stage presence, she was starting to feel the mood/s of her song/s and Ronan is commencing to realize and tap the exact songs for her. She was slowly peaking up!
She only sparkled at the last four or five weeks of the entire series. I totally agreed with Danni Minogue who was stuck to her seat and would hardly stand up after every Marlisa’s performance week after week. That Marlisa’s rendition of Sia and David Guetta’s Titanium performed on the 9th week of the live shows was truly Marlisa and Ronan’s game changer. The Titanium performance of Marlisa made Danni stood up to her feet and cheered for the young lady!
All throughout the TV show, Marlisa seem to be the last contestant to shine. And what is so amazing about her shining is that she was able to sustain it and even progressed further every week! Australians then realized that something special was with this young lady.
I have read somewhere that travel envy can happen to anyone. It is caused by emotional discontent, frustration, feeling left out, the tendency for endless comparison and even social media. In my case, it would be a mix of all of these combined with being stuck for a year due to this crazy pandemic.
Nengkoy 