Ondoy, Not Ondoy At All

Ondoy,in Bohol, is a term of endearment. It means ondong in Cebu or totoy in Tagalog regions.  But storm Ondoy is no totoy at all.  Ondoy brought 13.4 inches rain in just six hours…that’s a month’s worth of precipitation!

It brought havoc to Manila and surrounding areas. Lives are losts, houses are shattered, food is scarce. This is the time to help our brothers, folks, in whatever way we can. Barrio Siete, spearheaded by Reyna Elena, created a campaign called Barrio Bayanihan for Ondoy Victims. As of this writing, Php 57,970 were donated.

In the spirit of Barrio Siete, we invite you all to join our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. Very simply:

1.) Make a donation to our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. If you can’t, then help us by making this viral and create an entry entitled: “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims“. A link to this original entry will be appreciated where your readers can make a donation. Please leave us a note in the comment section if you are joining so we can list your entry, in case the pingback doesn’t work.

2.) Invite other bloggers to join our “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims”

3.) We will list the names of the donors in a worksheet, their organization and/or their websites, unless they prefer to be anonymous.

4.) The listing will be updated regularly and will be posted here in Barrio Siete Dot com.

5.) We are only accepting monetary donations in currencies accepted by Paypal.

6.) All donations will be remitted only to the Philippine National Red Cross in Manila. (We have not made any contact with them yet.)

7.) If you prefer: You can make donations directly to the Philippine National Red Cross. Here is the link: Ways to donate

In Barrio Siete, this is where you can make your donation. We will in turn, turn this over to the Philippine National Red Cross.

8.) Reyna Elena’s entry on Ondoy here is getting a lot of messages from readers asking for help and assistance. If you are reading this, please head over to that entry and respond to some of the questions if you know because it kills me that I don’t know the answer to their questions or their plea for help. Hopefully, there is one here who could help.

The photos and videos I’ve seen in the web are heart-wrenching.  My heart and prayers go out to those poor victims of the storm. This is not the time to blame anyone. This is the time to reach out to our kababayans.

Check out these heart-wrenching photos I’ve gathered from the web:

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Wedding Galore

Last Saturday, we went to my boss’ wedding. We drove all the way to Denver, Colorado. It was a six-hour drive but it was worth it. In my four-year long stay in the US, it was my first time to attend a wedding here.

In case you might ask, I am not going to get married this year. Huhuhu?! LOL. My little sister is getting married this December and the groom’s family is so superstitious. Sukob daw. Malas. Hehe. They won’t let them get married unless I will postpone my own wedding. So I did because I am nice. LOL. Actually, it is just one of the reasons. We postponed our wedding until the end of April of next year. I still have ample time to think it over if I really have to do it. Hahaha. Seriously though, up to now we are still debating if we are going to have a formal wedding or not. By formal wedding, we mean inviting friends, hotel receptions, garden ceremony, etc. By not formal, we mean drive-thru wedding in Las Vegas. The latter would be very convenient and economical and we are going to have a second wedding anyway in the Philippines in two years time. The former costs some moolah. And oh, did I tell you that here in the US the girl is the one who would pay for everything in a wedding? Waaa. Ayaw ko noh! LOL. But we’ll see, 7 months is still too far away.. things might change. The queen already prepared her gown and four-inch heels, by the way. Sayang naman. Haha. The fact of the matter though, I am going to get married to my JLC by hook or by crook. There’s no one like him. As far as I know, he feels the same way. Cheesy?

Anyway highway, going back to my boss’s wedding. Read more

A FarAway Life

Finally, the much-awaited (chos!) of my friend’s Indie Film is here. I had previous entries about the said film and now the trailer is available for viewing at YouTube. You can read them here and here. Many of us can so relate to the story. The film featured Cesar Montano (cameo) and Joross Gamboa. I am really proud of this since I contributed a little to the story and one of the characters was named after me. I’ll be doing an interview with the producer (Joy Fitzharris) and the director (Tim Fitzharris) in the future. It will be part of the “making” of the movie.

Watch this trailer of “A Far Away Life”. The story is really interesting and it will surely touch your heart, I tell you. This trailer can’t even justify how good the movie is. I know because I already watched 90% of it while they were still editing. I can’t wait to see the whole film!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend folks.

Play The Role of a Stylist

I found out from Chuvaness about this awesome site called Looklet. You dress up a model/doll, put some accessories and viola, the result looks like a page of a premium magazine. Chuvaness actually has a contest going on- who can dress the most stylish looklet doll will win a sony ericson phone. Too bad I am not in Manila, I can’t join.

Anyways, I got addicted with this site. I have created 9 looks already as of yesterday. Lolz. These are some of them:

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Embarrasing Moment 101

My boss came to my office and we were chitchatting. My telephone rang and I knew it was a marketing call. I picked it up and ask the girl on the other line what it was for? She then told me ” I just need thirty seconds of your time. ” I hung up it right then and then.

The receptionist sometimes thought that these calls are genuine so that is why she just transfer them to me. Paano ba naman, these marketing agents would call you by your first name. Feeling close!

Moi: I hate those marketing calls!
Boss: You better be mean with those kind of calls.

The phone rang again and a 1-800 number registered on my caller ID.

Moi: Hello
Caller: I am looking for Rester, this is Chuvaekek from….
Moi: If this is a marketing call, I don’t have time for you!!! (Yelling)

I hung up without giving him a chance to talk.

Feeling ko ang mean ko na!

The phone rang again and it was the same number. I got really furious.
Moi: May I help you?
Caller: What’s your name?
Moi: What’s your name? ( I yelled at him. Ang mokong na to, ako pa ang tatanungin kung anong name ko.) Why are you asking my name? You are the one who called! (Irritated)
Caller: I am Kevin from Dell computers. I am not going to sell you anything. I just want to talk to Rester. I am her contact person and account manager. I just have few questions on her order.

Waaaa. Dell is our main supplier of our computers, peripherals, and server needs. I know this guy!

Moi: Uhmmm. She’s not in her desk right now. Do you want to leave a message or you know what you can also email her. ( Nagpacute na ang tono ng boses ko.)
Caller: Well, I am just going to email her.
Moi: Uhmmm. I apologize about..
Caller: That’s fine. I get that a lot.
Moi: I get marketing calls a lot too. In fact the call prior to yours was a marketing call. (Todo explain ang lola.)
Caller: No worries.
Moi: Thanks.
Caller: Bye.

Hahaha. My boss laughed his head off. I was embarrassed. You know how it feels that you have this rage and then you realized that it was not necessary? You are ready to blow your anger out and then you realize you are wrong to get angry to begin with? To top it off, somebody had witnessed your unnecessary outburst and it just happened it was your boss? You know how it feels like? It feels like sh*t. (excuse my french)

Photo Credits : Cartonstock.com

P.S. Salamat sa lahat ng nakisympatiya sa akin sa last post ko. I appreciate it a lot. Thanks.

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