A RARE GATHERING OF OLD FRIENDS AT CRAZY GARLIC

It's always a joy seeing old friends and bonding with them after so many years. My high school chums Anton Bilbao, Jing Mina and Joey Labarinto were in town from the U.S. for a couple of weeks, and we had a dinner celebration at Crazy Garlic in Greenbelt. It was such a blast, and non-stop reminiscing of our good old crazy days. Also in attendance were Panky Francisco, Eric Diaz, Bomboy Mayoralgo, Carmelo Alday and myself.

BALAI HILOM/LAMON THE SECOND TIME AROUND

It was a perfect summer getaway one summer of April this year 2013 in Balai Hilom in Matuod in Lian, Batangas at my cousin Linda Lyttle Reyes' Bali inspired beach house fronting the calm and spectacular sea, and it was a triple birthday celebration as well. My Tita Rose Albert Florentino, My Tita Cris Albert Lyttle and an old family friend Girlie Soriano celebrated their birthdays. Linda prepared a fabulous feast for all of us, and each and every single meal was a feast and fiesta galore. Aside from Linda, Tita Rose, Tita Cris and Girlie and myself, celebrating with us include my other Tita Charito Albert Razon and daughters Malutchi Razon and Sarci Razon Rabat, my cousins Pepito and Luisito Albert. It was a memorable bonding for my family, and a much needed break from all the stress in Manila.

IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK!!

It has been like 2 years ago when I last posted on my blogsite, but I am back once again!! Missed blogging!

WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT FOR 2011

It's 2011, and here is my personal list of who's IN and who's OUT so far for the year.
IN: EUGENE DOMINGO is definitely one of the hottest and bankable and in-demand actresses today. She has movie and television projects left and right, and in fact, her most recent film project "My Valentine Girls" was a resounding box office hit, and she's set to star in another movie "Who's that girl" soon. She has a comedy-musical show on GMA channel 7, and she also has several projects lined up for TV-5. Ultra-talented SOLENN HEUSAFF is being built up by GMA-7 as a big star. Solenn was also part of the box office hit "My Valentine Girls" and she is slated to be part of "Captain Barbel" soon. She became popular in the reality hit tv "Survivor Philippines Celebrity Showdown." She is also rumoured to be the current steady date of another super-IN actor RICHARD GUTIERREZ. Aside from Richard, also IN nowadays are DINGDONG DANTES, DENNIS TRILLO, JOHN LLOYD CRUZ, GERALD ANDERSON, COCO MARTIN, and RAYVER CRUZ. Among the female stars, Super IN are BEA ALONZO, ANDI EIGENNMANN, IZA CALZADO, MARICAR REYES, MARIAN RIVERA and AI AI DE LAS ALAS. ANGEL LOCSIN is also once again IN, because of her top rating "Imortal" and her career has picked up once again. MANNY PACQUIAO is still IN, and so is NONITO DONAIRE.
Hunks DANIEL MATSUNAGA, AKIHIRO SATO, HIDEO TANAKA, FABIO IDE are also IN, and so are PAOLO AVELINO, JM DE GUZMAN, AJ PEREZ and Nestea boy NOEL COLETA.
ALICE DIXON is also IN now, because of her "Babaeng Hampaslupa" and also IN are RUFFA GUTIERREZ and her brother RAYMOND GUTIERREZ. Super-IN also is ANNE CURTIS and TONI GONZAGA.
It seems that there are more OUT personalities this year! Heading the list is KRIS AQUINO, who's comeback on tv "The Price is Right" doesnt seem to be popular among the televiewers as it hasnt picked up in the ratings, and is considered by critics as a lousy game show, and is a poor version of the U.S. game show. Her last teleserye also did not rate that well. Although her "Dalaw" made a lot of money, the reviews for the movie were so bad, even her acting was lambasted by the critics. Also OUT is SHARON CUNETA, who has been hounded by negative publicity, and her shows on tv are not really doing well. PIOLO PASCUAL also seems to be OUT. His last teleserye "Noah" flopped in the ratings game, and his Valentine concert was also a resounding flop, and his announcement of his relationship with another OUT-personality KC CONCEPCION only elicited negative comments. ALJUR ABRENICA also is OUT because of his "Machete" tv series which unfortunately did not do justice, as well as his mediocre acting. More OUTS: JC DE VERA, SHAINA MAGDAYAO, JOBERT SUCALDITO, OGIE DIAZ, KATRINA HALILI, WILMA DOESNT. ABS CBN afternoon drama seryes are also resounding flops, from "Juanita Banana" to 'Alyna" to "Sabel." Even the cast of "Shout out" did not rate at all. Also OUT are SAM MILBY and MICO PALANCA.
More IN'S : The Tween hearts cast, headed by BEA BINENE, JOSHUA DIONISIO, LEXI FERNANDEZ, KRISTOFFER MARTIN,JOYCE CHING. Their teen series is such a hit, and so are the current afternoon drama series of GMA 7.
IN: OGIE ALCASID and REGINE VELASQUEZ ALCASID, WILLIE REVILLAME, HAYDEN KHO, JOHN LAPUS, PIA GUANIO, and the entire cast of "Eat Bulaga."
OUT: JOHN ESTRADA, RANDY SANTIAGO, MARIEL RODRIGUEZ, POPS FERNANDEZ, ZSA ZSA PADILLA, KARYLLE, and ROBIN PADILLA.
GABBY CONCECION is also OUT, and so is GRETCHEN BARRETTO.
Gretchen's sister CLAUDINE BARRETTO is also OUT, but her better halF RANDY SANTIAGO is IN, because of his hit tv series "Bantatay."

GRIEVING THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE......

It's not very often that one experiences the loss of a loved one. But when it happens, the feeling is undescribable. It has been so many years since i last lost a loved one....several loved ones in a span of only one year or so - my dad, my grandmother, and an uncle. And just last July 22, another uncle of mine passed away. Tito Nene Albert, the only brother of my mom, who peacefully died in the U.S. His loving wife, Tita Marissa de Leon Albert, brought Tito Nene's ashes here in Manila just recently, and his ashes laid at the Santuario de San Antonio mortuary in Forbes Park, for two days - yesterday afternoon, until this afternoon, where his ashes were placed in a crypt. During the mass held this afternoon, i couldnt help but shed tears, not only because of the sadness i felt but the true meaning of losing a dear uncle - a dear relative of mine. It has been so many years since i last shed a tear for a dear relative, and the feeling is so painful, most specially, seeing all your loved ones around you in tears as well. I am so very thankful for my cousin Pepito Albert, who took care of everything, from the priest, to the preparations and the food. I commend him for executing only the best for his dad, and i salute him for that. We will all dearly miss you Tito, and we are all very sure that you are now up there in heaven with my dad, my lola, and my other Titos, and my cousins Kathy and Rosalie. We bid you Farewell...here on earth.

THE HOSTAGE TRAGEDY

August 23, 2010 is one very unfortunate day among all Filipinos and the entire nation. At around mid-morning, former senior police inspector ROLANDO MENDOZA, 55 years old, hostaged a tourist bus with around 16 Hong Kong tourists on board, on their way at the Manila Ocean Park, in Intramuros Manila. It was a long journey for the hostages, which ended tragically, and claimed the lives of 10 people, including the 9 hostages, and the hostage taker himself.
The scenario was covered live by practically all the television networks, and people all over the world watched and viewed the unfortunate incident. The unfortunate ending of the hostage taking was caused by several factors....the police force, the media, and the government.
1. The SWAT force and the PNP lacked in expertise, and equipment, and treated the hostage taking very poorly. One perfect example was when they used ropes instead of cables or some much heavier equipment to pull out the door of the bus.
2. Media was all over the place, and they had a blow by blow account of what was happening, and even broadcasted the measures the SWAT and PNP forces were delivering against the hostage taker, which he himself could see and monitor on the tv screen inside the bus.
3. The mistake of the PNP in handling the hostake taker's brother and relatives, in which they treated his relatives badly, and apprehended them, to the dismay of the hostake taker, which obviously, he was able to watch on television.
4. The government's inability to handle the negotiations properly, and treating it as just an isolated case.
5. The statement of the secretary of tourism Alberto Lim, in saying that the hostake taking incident was just an ordinary situation, and a minor one. This was very much uncalled for.
6. The SWAT and PNP's belief of assuming that all the hostages were already dead, before they even attacked the hostage taker.
7. The lack of security within the hostage taking area, where civilians were all over the place, which turned out to be a circus.

MISS UNIVERSE 2010

The 2010 Miss Universe beauty pageant, held at Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas, USA, proclaimed Miss Mexico as the new Miss Universe, amongst 82 other delegates from all over the world. This is the 2nd time that Mexico won the title. Her runners up are - Miss Jamaica (1st runner up), Miss Australia (2nd runner up) and Miss Congeniality, Miss Ukraine (3rd runner up) and our very own Ma. Venus Raj of the Philippines as 4th runner up.
It has been 11 years since we last placed in the Miss Universe. The last one was in 1999 when Miriam Quiambao almost won the crown, and placed 1st runner up.
Venus was a consistent favorite among the crowd, and was even leading in the different leaderboards, giving her a top 3 position in the surveys.
The other semi finalists were Albania, Russia, Czech Republic, South Africa, Guatemala, Colombia, Belgium, France, Puerto Rico and a crowd favorite Ireland.
Miss Thailand won the Miss Photogenic and Best National Costume award.
Surprisingly, Venezuela, USA , India and Brazil did not make the semifinals.
Venus was the only Asian to make it to the top 15. Last year, not a single Asian placed among the 15 semi finalists.