Monday, March 19, 2007

Ano daw?

These seriously cracked me up. Ain't quite funny for non-native Filipino speakers though...
  1. The more, the manyer.
  2. It's a no win-win situation.
  3. Come! Let's join us!
  4. Are you joking my leg?
  5. It's not my problem anymore; it's your problem anymore.
  6. You can never can tell.
  7. Let's give them a big hand of applause! (I also seem to remember hearing someone say, "Let's give him a warm of applause!")
  8. Been there, been that.
  9. Forget it about it.
  10. Give him the benefit of the daw.
  11. It's a blessing in the sky.
  12. One of these days is not like the other.
  13. In the wink of an eye.
  14. For all intense and pruposes.
  15. I ran into some errands.
  16. Whatever you say so.
  17. Can't you just cut me some slacks?

Thursday, March 15, 2007

So my weekend didn't turn out to be that boring and lifeless, despite Eric being far (too far) away from me.

Last Friday after work, Claire asked John and I to have coffee, just to unwind and chill out. Since John had to attend a meeting first, Claire and I decided to go ahead and just wait for John at Karl's in SM. Over iced coffee and cigarettes (always the perfect combination), we chatted, a bit awkward at first, maybe, since it had been quite some time since we hung out last. Eventually, we discussed a few things openly about ourselves. She told me those are things she didn't expect of me to which I retorted by saying, "There are a lot of facets to my personality."

We talked about our lives since we're both turning 30 this year (she on the 25th and I on the 3rd of next month), how shitty our erm, "personal" lives had been lately (though mine was way too worse than hers), that "one guy" in our lives (there always has to be this one guy, right?), and a planned trip to somewhere the summer of next year (and facing the possibility of a summer fling).

The one thing that I really liked about that talk was that she told me she liked talking to me. I guess it's because we have similar personalities, being Arians and all. We work on the same wavelength. And we're both the same age.

Come Saturday, it was bonding time for my Mom and I (a la Gilmore Girls). I'm glad she didn't go to work that day since I can't remember the last time we went out and did something like we did that day. In the morning, we attended driving class together (my last session and her 2nd), told her about the cute guy sitting beside me in driving class, helped me flirt with the guy after the class, had lunch at a newly-opened restaurant, went to the mall, bought a mixer and a pressure cooker, had a facial, then went to the spa.

And then I realized, life without Eric for a few days was fine. The world didn't end.

But I still hate it when we're not together.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Pinoy films then...

I talked about the basic elements of a formulaic Filipino GP film in my class. I did it before in my other classes and it never failed to make them laugh.

So what makes a typical Pinoy GP film?

First, there has to be a poor but kind man and a young, beautiful rich couple's daughter with a dirty old man for a suitor. Next, there has to be around 5 kids, one of whom is a rich kid who ran away from home. They are all being taken cared of by the poor but kind man. Or, if there won't be kids, there has to be around 3 teenaged loveteams in the movie. The elderly parent of the poor man usually is presented to always be nagging at his/her son for not being as successful at somebody else. Oh, and there has to be the bad guys, of course.

A typical Filipino GP film has...
COMEDY. Mainly seen all throughout the movie, usually in slapstick format.

ROMANCE. The poor but kind man gets the rich beautiful daughter eventually.

TRIPS. The entire cast will usually go on an excursion, usually to the beach.

MUSIC. Somehow, during the whole excursion, the whole cast gets into a song and dance number, complete with choreography and back-up dancers. Often, that part ends with everyone jumping up high and the camera freezes the shot.

HORROR. On their way back home, their van breaks down right in front of an old scary house. The rain pours down and they are left with no choice but to seek shelter in the "haunted house". Once inside, all sorts of creepy events meet them. Usually, there's a scary old woman or a scary hunchbacked man.

MYSTERY. Inside the house, someone from the pack goes missing and the whole gang searches for their missing companion.

ACTION. Eventually, the cast will realize, while on their search for their missing member, that the "haunted house" is just a safehouse for some bad guys doing some illegal activity. All these will be revealed and the good gang will try to beat up the bad guys. Oftentimes, one of the good guys gets hit by a teammate by mistake. Eventually, when the bad guys have been beaten, the cops will arrive at the scene.

DRAMA. The runaway kid (or alien or angel, in some cases), will be leaving the shanties to go back to his/her rich parents (or to his/her home planet...or to heaven) and everyone in the gang will be crying their goodbyes.

A HAPPY ENDING. The parents of the rich runaway kid (if this is the case) will realize how sad their kid will be and asks the poor but kind man to live with them instead so everybody will be rich and happy.

Sometimes, if the musical isn't in the middle part of the movie, it will be at the end.