From a photographer to a model

I'm not really the model type. 

Though I should admit that I love to pose in front of the camera. Aside from being a photographer, I love to take photos of myself.

I love photography in general.

Again, I'm not the model type.

I don't have that chiseled body, killer smile, or that high fashion pose.

Nah.

This just made me realized that I should stick with what I do best, stay behind the camera.

To T2 or not to T2? That is the question.

There's really a lot to say about T2 or Tenement 2.

Maricel Soriano is Maricel Soriano, she is undeniably an actress, thanks to her years and years of experience both in TV and film. You could really feel the fear in her eyes, truly exceptional.

Eric Fructuoso is an added value for the film. After years of absence in the movie scene, he makes a comeback that, I think, no other actors can. He is not the best, I should say, but his acting was perfect for the role - except for the naknamput word that he keeps on repeating throughout the film.

Mika dela Cruz is also another eye candy. The child, seeing her also in Goin Bulilit, has what it takes in portraying difficult and sensitive roles. She may be quite maarte for the role, being a daughter of a blind probinsyano, but she pulled everything off. 

I, personally, like the idea of not including John Lloyd Cruz in the billing of the film. His present popularity, after the You Change My Life phenomenon, would cover up the actors and the film, itself. Who would want that to happen right?

Lastly, I should commend the film's cinematography. It captured, the best possible way it can, the feel of the underworld. Kudos.

Here starts the negative part of my review.

The screenplay seems not to be the best one that Chito Roño and Aloy Adlawan could produce. There is surely more to what they have done. If Chris Martinez did it for Sukob and Roy Iglesias for Feng Shui, having Chito Roño on the side, why did Aloy didn't make it?

The graphics is another story to tell. I would probably forgive the technology that the Philippine industry presently has, but there was surely more than what they did. 

Actors like K Brosas and Camille Pratts should have been scrapped out. I really don't know if their acting was the best for the film. Even John Lloyd Cruz is questionable whether he fits the role or not.

Though it was really shocking, thanks to an invention called sound effects, it wasn't really that scary or eerie that when you get out of the movie house, you'll be scared of that particular thing, just like Feng Shui and Sukob did to me.

However, it still boils down to one's opinion and criticism. I still leave everything to you guys who will watch the film in the days to come.

To T2 or not to T2?

i say, not.

Sa ikalawa, Pwede na

Pagkatapos ng mahabang pahinga, 

heto't nagbabalik na naman siya - 

si Serena at ang mga litrato niya.

Tila ganito na ata talaga, 

Bawat kuha'y kakaiba,

tingin niyo? Ayos naman hindi ba?

Pero dito iyong makikita,

Natural na ganda niya,

Na tila hindi magagawa ng iba.

May pula, may dilaw,

may kulubot, may bughaw,

iba-iba bawat pindot sa kamera.

Maaring ang iba'y hindi makita,

maaring may kung anumang abala,

Pero kung iyo'ng titigan,

Tila dadalhin ka sa karimlan.

Sana'y inyong nagustuhan,

Hanggang dito na lamang.

How do you make Holy Week holy?

Growing up in a province like Davao, there's really a big difference as to how I commemorate Christ's passion or simply, the Holy Week.

When I was still living there, this week is the holiest week I live my entire year. 

I could still remember waking up at around 4 o'clock in the morning to join the Way of the Cross which is a walk for around a kilometer or two.

I even usually join a choir of angels singing to celebrate the Christ's resurrection. Yes. I wore that one cloth with an artificial halo and wings while singing, "Alleluia, Alleluia, Alle, Alleluia,"

The name speaks for itself.

When I started spending my Holy Week here in Manila, things changed. 

Instead of a prayerful and holy Holy Week, I spend it out-of-town with my friends and special someones. Last year I went to Subic, this year will be in Zambales.

Maybe because I'm miles away from my family, who are the ones who influences me to spend it the way they do which is the one thing I miss about this week.

I wish I could spend this with my family.

I miss them. I miss them so much.

"Lordy, this week of solitude and serenity, may you guide and protect my family, my friends, and my better half,"

Cheap Chip Tsao

Who the hell is Chip Tsao?

I was once again a couch potato one night at home when I came across a news report on TV about a chinese columnist expressing his angst, anger, hatred, or whatever you call against the Filipino nation. In his article entitled The War at Home, Chip Tsao discussed his rant against the Philippines for claiming Spratly Islands. 

Thanks to Google, I got the chance to read the full article. Here it goes.

* * *

The War at Home by Chip Tsao

The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen on board. We can live with that—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That’s no big problem—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.

But hold on—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: there are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.

As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.

Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.

Oh yes. The government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout “China, Madam/Sir” loudly whenever they hear the word “Spratly.” They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, “Long live Chairman Mao!” at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that’s going a bit too far, at least for the time being.

* * *

As I previously asked, who the hell is Chip Tsao?

Thanks once again to Google, I knew that Chip Tsao comes from a family of writers and editors. His father and mother worked in a magazine and newspaper in Hong Kong. He worked as a reported in BBC where he was soon accredited as a writer in UK.

I clearly understand where he is coming from - a point of view of a patriotic writer concerned of his country's welfare, like everyone else is.

However, he need not label other countries, or Philippines to be exact, such names such as, "a nation of servants." This I think is way beyond the border and responsibilities of a journalist.

I, myself, was once a journalist, working as an editor-in-chief of a student publication back in college and I know for a fact that being a writer, you should inculcate the limits and responsibilities of a journalist.

Though he already asked for forgiveness, and as far as I know, the Philippine embassy in Hong Kong already accepted it, it can't be denied that this writing caused a wound in every Filipino's heart. 

We may be a "nation of servants," but we are a nation of dignity and honor, of courage and bravery. 

TO Mr. CHIP TSAO, where has your ethics gone? If you want war, we will give you war.