Hainrihi's Discoveries

This article can be seen in the Definitely Filipino Blog: http://www.definitelyfilipino.com/blog. I decided to try and write in Filipino as this topic is best expressed in this language. :)

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Mga magkakatabing magkaibigan na nagdadaldalan, pagkatapos pagtingin mo sa kaliwa sa may bandang gitnang upuan ay may lalaking natutulog. Tingin ka pa sa kanan sa may pangalawang upuan at may tatay na nagte-text sa cellphone. Hala! Biglang may batang tumakbo sa harap ko at nakita ko ang yaya o nanay yata na biglang kinuha ang bata. May iba namang nanay na pinapatahimik ang isang bata. Yung iba naman ay tulala. Aba’y tignan mo pa ang paligid! May mga naka-backless, spaghetti strap, sando, t-shirt, mini-skirt, shorts, at pantalon na kapag umupo ay kulang na lang ay makita ang kuyukot ng mga pwet nila! Naka-tsinelas, sandalyas, sapatos. Kulang nalang maghubad sila sa mga suot nila. Ano kaya ito? Party? Meeting? Eskwela? Hindi. Nasa lugar sila na dapat na dapat nire-respeto, matahimik at nakikinig sa nagsasalita sa harap. Isang lugar, kung saan, dapat ay mataimtim tayong…nagdadasal. Ito ang selebrasyon ng Diyos. Ito ang…MISA.

Habang nakikinig sa sermon ng pari na nakatayo sa pulpito, hindi maiwasan ng aking mga mata na mapatingin sa mga tao sa loob ng simbahan na nagmi-misa. Bilang isa sa mga taong nasa harap dahil nagpapakita ng mga titik ng mga awitin, nakikita ko ang mga iba’t ibang gawain nila. At hindi ko akalain, pagkatapos ng Misa, na sa mismong bahay ng Diyos ay pinapaliban ng mga nagsisimba ang pagdadasal para lang magawa ang gusto nilang gawin.

Hindi ko tuloy malubos maisip: ganito na ba nating nakalimutan ang Diyos, na gumawa sa atin, dahil lang sa mga gusto nating magawa na hindi akma sa Misa? Mas nanaisin pa ba natin kausapin ang katabi kaysa sa Diyos? Bakit? Natutulungan ba tayo ng katabi natin sa LAHAT ng mga problema natin sa buhay? Masyado natin binabalewala ang Santa Misa. Para sa iba ay okey na yung simba lamang, at hindi na iniintindi ang kahalagahan nito. Kulang tayo sa kaalaman nito. Narito ang ilan sa mga halimbawa kung paanong masasabi na balewala na sa iba ang misa

My older sister from Malaysia showed me this article at the height of the hostage-taking of Hong Kong tourists by Rolando Mendoza. After reading Daniel Wagner’s "The Philippine Bus and Miss Universe", I immediately messaged my older sister in YM and talked about it. I totally reacted as I can relate to it because we ourselves have close loved ones who are like the ones described in the articles. I will dwell on that later as I mention the article’s three main points that we Filipinos should think about in order to lift the Philippines from its sufferings it is experiencing now. But first off, you can read the article on:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/the-philippine-bus-and-mi_b_694544.html

I have been contemplating for days on what to write about that is Filipino-related when I saw news events the past days that made me think about Filipinos on people and being in the Philippines in general.

Last week, TV Patrol let out an exclusive story where somebody took a cellphone video of a criminal being tortured by policemen somewhere in Tondo, Manila. A rope was tied on his private part and is being pulled by somebody every time he gets whipped. In other words, he was being tortured by policemen. This also reminded me of another video I saw in Facebook where policemen were making fun of male criminals by making them kiss each other and beating them up, despite being beaten already by maybe an angry crowd.

July is coming to an end, while August is coming in. Half a year has passed and, somehow, I feel not good about it as well as not satisfied with my life...yet. Aside from resigning from a tiring job, and getting a new one after around 2 months, nothing BIG has happened yet that would at least satisfy me.

I was one of the people who watched "Eclipse" on its first weekend of showing, despite still having a hard time walking, because I wanted to see if it was as good as they promoted it to be. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed that I liked "New Moon" more than "Eclipse".

First off, I'm a book lover and have religiously read the "Twilight" series. So, turning the book into a movie may leave a book lover like me disappointed if he/she expects too much from the movie. Ever since Hollywood went into the trend of turning books into movies (one of the first being "Harry Potter"), I learned not to expect anything grand, let alone for the movie to stay true to the book. Book-to-movie adaptations NEVER stay true to the book, and I have learned to live with that. But despite that thought in my head, "Eclipse" still left me disappointed than "New Moon" and here are some of my reasons.

I'm supposed to write something this week about some reviews of movies and books since I just finished watching and reading some new ones. But due to some events that I will never forget, this entry will just be short and about the week.

I went into an accident that involved some skin in my feet being scraped off (even the inner skin), and I can't walk well and am in pain right now. I have to go through everyday medication and cleaning of the wound that it gets the energy out of my body. So, even if I had more than 7 hours of sleep, I am still quite tired.

Then my 1st cousin died yesterday, and I'm still not recovering from the accident that I had. He was one of my cousins whom I am close to and he was just 29 years old. It's still hard to register the events that had happened this week, and I'm still having a hard time comprehending them and asking why they are all happening.

The only things keeping me occupied is watching anime, sleeping and writing (though I'm also having hard time here because I'm not in the mood and have lost a bit of an inspiration to write). I know I'll be realizing a lot of things regarding the events that had happened this week, and maybe I'll be able to write about them soon. Writing has been my therapy the past years and it gives me relief once I have written about something. But, for now, I can only write about a personal entry.

I hope all goes well in the end.

"Shrek" has been one of my favorite movies for the past decade and I have grown to love it with every sequel that was shown. So, I made sure that Marc and I were going to watch the final chapter. We planned to watch it in a regular cinema in Eastwood, but we were parked in the new mall and Ultra 7 was full already. The only cinema with "Shrek" there was in 3D, so we decided to watch it there. Having heard that it would be the final chapter, I did not have high expectations for it...and I was right not to. I was left satisfied on the story, as well as watching it on 3D and it was sad to see that it truly was the final "Shrek" movie.

"Shrek Forever After" is the final movie of the "Shrek" series. The main character, Shrek, wished that for just one day, he would feel like the ogre he was before he rescued Fiona from the tower----where people were scared of him and he could have all the time he wanted without any responsibilities of being a father and a husband. But when he signed a deal with Rumpelstiltskin for him to give that day, everything turned out wrong and needs to fix it before he disappears from the world---forever.

The movie is about solving some other problems and issues that were not yet shown in the prequels, and one of them is when Shrek felt somethings that can be felt by anybody, especially when we are burdened by many responsibilities. He became selfish and wanted to escape because he was scared to face these responsibilities---to the point that he didn't think of his wife and kids anymore. And when they were gone, that's when he realized that he missed them and wished they were back. While we do not have magic and real Rumpelstiltskins in our lives, most of us experience this feeling, thus take our loved ones for granted. We just realize that we love them so much when they are gone.

It is a very family-friendly movie that left me sad and teary knowing that it was the last "Shrek" movie and I will truly miss Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and, of course, Puss---which I grown to love the last decade. The fact that the ogres and the animals teach us humans the values of love and family makes the movie and the prequels very worthwhile to watch.

Lastly, it is through "Shrek" that I learned to love cats (Thank you Puss in Boots!). I learned that they can be lovable too if you take care of them. Now, we have a total of 7 cats in our house and I always make sure to pet or talk to them whenever I get home from work.

I'm going to miss all the "Shrek" characters and they will surely be on my hearts and memories. This is one movie animation that I want my kids to watch in the future.

Now, I just can't wait for the "Puss in Boots" movie, which will be shown either on 2011 or 2012. And yes, it will still be voiced by Antonio Banderas (oh, he is so adorable). According to Antonio Banderas in his interview with Ellen Degeneres, the story will revolve around Puss "back when he was still a little kitty cat, until he became a sword-fighting cat". Awww....I'm pretty sure people are going to watch it. I mean, who can't say no to that eyes? so cute....can't wait! :)

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

One of the few things that give me hope for our country is CHILDREN.

"What did I love about the "Tooth Fairy" aside from seeing Dwayne Johnson in a pink tutu and with wings? It's thinking and saying "What if?" in your life. Maybe I should start doing that now. What if...:-)" - my Facebook status

A lot has happened that made me realize many things. I never thought that watching a comedy film with Dwayne Johnson having wings and collecting teeth could make me learn things that can be helpful in my life. It just took two words: WHAT IF...

I can list down a lot of definitions for these two words: change, trying out some things you have never done before, getting out of your normal routine, grabbing an opportunity, and many more. After hearing those words, I realized that I have missed a lot because I was afraid to use these two words in my life.  I now have many things that I want to do because of these words. One of them is an opportunity that I want to grab. As everyone says, there is no harm in trying.

Maybe I should do that now. No, no, erase MAYBE. I should do that now. It never hurts to try and say to yourself "What if I (state what you want to do here)...." I think that could change everything and make my life better.

So, what are your biggest "what ifs"? :) 

Tell me about it in the comments section below. You can also talk to me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

~Hainrihi