JOVIT BALDIVINO wins the PGT GRAND PRIZE!

Hoorah for Jovit! Wow,the boy from Batangas who sells siomai to help his mother augment their meager source of income has made it to the top and won the whooping 2 million pesos and not only that...he did win also the hearts of million of Filipinos who's watching Pilipinas Got Talent. Me, also was rooting for him because he really has that powerful voice a brilliant singer has got to be. He sang Too Much Love Will Kill You originally sang by the famous QUEEN and it was an awesome rendition...sa termino ng mga singer eh, plakadong-plakado. I really swoon each time he'd sing...mapa-Journey, mapa-Bon Jovi at ngayon eh mala-Freddie Mercury naman na siyang ipinanalo niyang piyesa. Grabe...

Repost: The Anne Frank Tree

In November 2007, the Anne Frank tree was scheduled to be cut down to prevent it from falling down on one of the surrounding buildings, after a fungal disease had affected the trunk of this horse-chestnut tree. Dutch economist Arnold Heertje, who was also in hiding during the Second World War, said about the tree: "This is not just any tree. The Anne Frank tree is bound up with the persecution of the Jews." The Tree Foundation, a group of tree conservationists, started a civil case in order to stop the felling of the horse chestnut, which received international media attention. A Dutch court ordered the city officials and conservationists to explore alternatives and come to a solution. The parties agreed to build a steel construction, that would prolong the life of the tree up to 15 years.

But who is Anne Frank by the way?
Anne Frank began to keep a diary on her thirteenth birthday, 12 June 1942, three weeks prior to going into hiding with her mother Edith, father Otto, sister Margot and four other people, Hermann van Pels, Auguste van Pels, Peter van Pels, and Fritz Pfeffer, in the sealed-off upper rooms of the annexe of her father's office building in Amsterdam. With the assistance of a group of Otto Frank's trusted colleagues they remained hidden for two years and one month, until their betrayal in August 1944, which resulted in their deportation to Nazi concentration camps. Of the group of eight, only Otto Frank survived the war. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen, from a typhus infection in early March, shortly before liberation in April 1945.
After the war, the diary was retrieved by Anne's father, Otto Frank.

Posted: 11/08/08 6:17pm
Source: Wikipedia

Coffee trivia

In Arabic lands, there is a strict etiquette about drinking coffee. Refusing an offer for coffee is an absolute insult;
furthermore, not serving coffee to a visitor is very rude.

from: A Cup of Devotion with God
[Dan & Dave Davidson]

Spell it right!

AnamikaVeeramani of New Royalton spells it right! And the word is s t r o m u h r. I wasn't an A1 student during my heydays but I was and still is so fond watching this kind of competition. In fact I can vividly remember the time when one of the competitors of this famous Spelling Bee in the Philippines way way back was the son of the equally famous actress Miss Rita Gomez.

The Caltex Spelling Bee champion (1969) was Romeo Solis Jr. of Don Bosco Technical Institute Mandaluyong and the first runner-up was Ronald Bregendahl (son of the late actors Ric Rodrigo and Rita Gomez) of San Beda College. The year before, Cynthia Patag of Iloilo placed third in the spelling bee contest.
-from Showbiz Trivia

And it's not that easy. I can truly say that every words to spell will wrench your head. I think this 14 yo girl is from an Indian descent. And we all know that Indians are quite impressively eloquent, take the case of Miss Sushmita Sen who bagged the 1994 Miss Universe title held here in Manila. She captured the hearts of many that time because she answered every question articulately impressive.





Now, like how Sen won her title, Anamika makes it also to be a winner... of the 83rd National Scripps Spelling Bee Contest.

I just hope they'll revive this kind of contest here in our country where kids will be encouraged and trained more to spell words correctly. Any educational competition is helpful to young and those who are not so young too. Whatever happened to LG Quiz? We're happy to see Vic Sotto's Who Wants to be a Millionaire via Channel 5. We need a lot of recaps please.....

Has left some good treats...

As dog lover, one may be a habitue at Tiendesita's where you can roam around with your pets and not to be called your attention as long as nobody gets hurt. Some bring their big dogs like Labrador, German Shepherd, Doberman, or even Mallanois with their intimidating gait. Some others bring their small toy dogs like Mini Pins,or Chiuahuas and so on. Me, I usually visit the place to watch dog shows and look for dog stuff and or to bring Mishah there for grooming. One time I saw an unusual breed of dog,or it might be that it was only my first time to see a hairless Chinese Crested. I was shocked to learn that it would cost you a little less than 200 thou to buy one. Grabe di ba?! Hindi siya actually pangit pero di ko siya gusto. Pero iniba ni Miss Ellie ang pananaw ko sa isang Chinese Crested na tulad niya. Miss Ellie is the cutest actually...she bagged the 21st World's Ugliest Dog Contest.

Now, Miss Ellie...the cutest of all the ugliest group of dogs has met her final bow. She has died at 17 and for sure not only the owner [actually the second owner] is grieving for such great loss, 'coz we too...as dog lovers. She wowed the audiences on "Dogs 101" and had so many previous stints where people found her cute and lovable. Ellie's left a legacy through her much effort to go in places where she was invited and her owner's effort too and they were able to raised $100,000 plus for her community's Humane Society. Surely Miss Ellie will go to doggie's heaven.

What a nice treat...arf arf!

It's Lee!

He made it! Lee wins the title over Crystalle. The celebration was a blast and I was able to catch up on the last part only where the winner was being announced. I was rooting for Crystalle sana of course because of the women thing and besides I was touched when she says her child deserves a better life. Hooray! But there is the judges' decision who have chosen Lee as the sole winner of this year's American Idol. So let's wait for another good singer in the making...

Congratulations! Cheers!

A thorough once over...

Wow...I started to work early at 5:00 in the morning today, with just a hot mug full of fresh creamed coffee and some thick corn soup to gulp together with my daily medicine. Got stuck cleaning our room and my son's room. Bingo it's almost done now. Saw those Japan's stuffed toys hiding under my bed accumulating dusts, good thing it's all Saran-wrapped, preventing dusts to penetrate inside. I asked my daughter what to do with those stuff, and she said I could give them to some less fortunate children. Will send some to my friends and the rest will go to Holy Cross.

On a special day for all mothers...

I was interrupted yesterday by some texts from my kids requesting me to stop from what I was doing daw. Was all sweat doing this and that ano pa nga ba, I love doing everything sa bahay...washing, cleaning, and so on and on...I like it when am busy at home specially when my blogging is kind of intermittent. But I did stop when they said so. Afraid they might get hurt pag di ko sila pinagbigyan. Wow my kids gave me big red and white roses with long stems. And another flower arrangement with stargazers...so in love with it. I love flowers! We went to parlor for my hand and toe nail polish, I chose the natural color with white French tip as usual. Then we went straight to Jolibee because yun ang favorite ni little Justin, ang walang kamatayang french fries...no choice dahil jampacked lahat ng place. After we ate we went na home because napakaraming tao...got a box of Red Ribbon cake...haisst pagdating sa bahay chocolate pala yun...I hate chocolates. They wanted red wine but I chose champagne insted. Eww di naman masarap. Got a gulp and didn't ask for another shot. Anyway masaya din of course dahil kahit in a rush and so simple as that, we have managed to get together and then we all watched Pinoy Got Talent [Markki won over those kids na magaling din naman in fairness], don't know if I got his name right...he's so cute and sang one of my fave song Ordinary People by John Legend] and the Talentadong Pinoy [the beatbox champion retained his title still for the 2nd time]. This is somewhat our usual bonding time wherein we are able to get in one place without spending more. Napakatipid na bonding time.

By the way we have a new pet, I call her Agua muna because of her pure creme coat besides her warm gray coat on her paws and face. She's a little less than a month old Siamese cat.

From Wikipedia:

Siamese are affectionate and intelligent cats, renowned for their social nature. Many enjoy being with people and are sometimes described as "extroverts". As there are extrovert Siamese, there also are some that have very sensitive and nervous temperaments. Those individuals may not easily adapt to the changes of environment or to strangers. They do have a great need for human companionship. Often they bond strongly to a single person. Most Siamese like to have other sociable cats for company and do not thrive as only cats owned by people who are gone much of the day. Siamese are extremely vocal, with a loud, low-pitched voice – known as "Meezer", from which they get one of their nicknames – that has been compared to the cries of a human baby, and persistent in demanding attention. These cats are typically active and playful, even as adults.

The social orientation of Siamese cats may be related to their lessened ability to live independent of humans. Siamese coat colouration is appealing to humans, but is ineffective for camouflage purposes. They are less active at night than most cats, possibly because their blue eyes lack a tapetum lucidum, a structure which amplifies dim light in the eyes of other cats. The mutation in the tyrosinase also results in abnormal neurological connections between the eye and the brain. Unlike many other blue-eyed white cats, Siamese cats do not have reduced hearing ability. The deafness that sometimes occurs in completely white cats is a result of the genetics that causes the loss of pigment cells in the skin, which has nothing to do with the tyrosinase gene defect that causes Siamese color. Regardless, being dependent on humans may have been a survival trait for ancestors of the Siamese.

Belated Happy Mother's Day to all mothers like me... :)

He's still cute!

"Bieber is German for basketball, true or false?"

Whatever they say... :)

Still not in sync...

Got empty coconut...writer's block indeed. I don't know what to write still...what to tell...I can't believe it, my mind is not working. No idea what to write as well as what to tell about. Maybe days in hospital has had ruined my memory due to too much stress and apprehension. It has reached my high-water mark, as a mother...at long last everything is now okey after that long overdue surgical plasty...

Big thanks to all specially Dr. Jesus Benjamin Mendoza, other doctors and nurses [sorry I wasn't able to get their names] , and everyone there...and also Babes, they made everything easier for me and my son during our week-long stay at EAMC. And salamat sa pagvisit ni Sir Rudolf at sa pagpapasaya niya sa akin during those times na I couldn't wear my usual grin, though I tried so hard to make everything looked pink and positive. Parang ngayon ako na-harassed. Am not in my normal self pa still. Parang my mind is so lax and slack. LOL, kung baga sa termino ng mga singers eh mumog. Yup, idle ang mind ko ngayon, ayaw magwork. All focus ako ngayon to take care of my son who is still recuperating at home. On Friday we still have to see Dr. Mendoza for check up at Cardinal Santos Medical Hospital.

By God's graces at least panatag na ako at natuloy din yun sa wakas. Sometimes we just have to wait what God has planned for us. Sabi nga nila patience is a virtue...tama nga. And the most important thing to do is to keep positive mind on all things specially the not-so-good-things we have in life. Just keep on hanging on to the Lord and you'll be on the safe side. Just how Tack is doing. By the way she'll be spending her birthday with a blast, ahmmm...check it out. I just wish I could be one of the lucky well-wishers this time [with crossed fingers]. Laging di ako maka-attend eh.