Showing posts with label nyuusu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nyuusu. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Since I'm Alone This Valentine's Day...

Have a date with yourself
By Niño Mark Sablan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Last updated 18:47:00 02/12/2008

MANILA, Philippines—The number 2 seems to be the official number of Valentine’s Day. Everyone is in pairs: lovers in Luneta, couples enjoying dinner at the best restaurants in town, partners watching a movie or a special V-Day concert.

No need to fret though if you are alone, single and cannot grab the nearest person even for a faux date. This February 14, why not spend quality time and have a date with someone who will never get enough of love from you?

I’m referring to you.

Love yourself and don’t feel guilty or selfish about it. V-day is for loving, after all, even if it doesn’t involve another person.

Below are some “me-date” ideas that you might want to do on the 14th—and maybe on the next days to come! Remember, love shouldn’t be expressed only during special occasions.

If watching a romantic movie all alone while being surrounded by lovey-dovey couples makes you want to roll your eyes for two hours, consider enjoying filmdom’s best at home then.

Bring out those Meg Ryan (the queen of romantic, feel-good films) DVDs or VCDs together with a box of tissue since you’ll probably end up sniffing within the first 30 minutes.

Why not rent those Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon movies and relate to their breakup scenes or even be inspired by their eventual meet-Prince-Charming point?

The best thing about watching romantic movies at home is you can cry your eyeballs out without bothering your seatmates.

Are you the type who’d feel bad if you found yourself the only single person in a couples-filled restaurant?

Don’t go out then and just bring the candlelit dinner to your home. Flip through your recipe books or go online to find a special dish that sounds both yummy and easy. Dash to the grocery and grab your ingredients. And then head home and release your inner Wolfgang Puck.

Don’t forget to light a candle, dim the lights and play some Sade before you enjoy your culinary creation.

Afterward, congratulate yourself for a cooking job (hopefully) well done. If you feel a bit sad, pat your back for being so independent—and maybe for being like those movie characters waiting for happy endings—and everything should be peachy.

Pamper yourself
One way to love yourself is for you to take great care of your body. So instead of the usual shoe-shopping or wardrobe-hunting, a great idea is to head to the grocery in search of the healthiest food and drinks around.

Not only will you do your body good, you’ll also realize how long you have been missing out on some of the best-tasting treats out there such as cranberry juice, granola bars and soy milk with green tea.

After shopping, try out even for just a day some physical activity that you’ve never entertained doing. The options are several and all of them are surely fun and calorie-burning: muay thai, yoga or indoor wall-climbing.

Nothing beats some all-day pampering so, while everyone is out having dates, schedule an appointment with your favorite manicurist, barber and masseuse. Have those nails cleaned and colored.

Moisturize your stressed and traumatized mop of locks. Ditch the already-passé Rihanna hairstyle (even she has ditched it already!) and go for a new chic cut.
Glow after a facial. Groom those eyebrows. Have your teeth cleaned or whitened. Opt for a Brazilian wax.

Moan as someone gives you a massage.

E-mail the author at ninomarksablan@yahoo.com

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/you/2bu/view/20080212-118430/Have-a-date-with-yourself

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Heath Ledger Dead

I cannot believe this young actor is dead. It's such a shame that he died so tragically. He was really promising and I liked him so much as an actor. This is a sad sad start to the New Year for US showbiz...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/22/heath.ledger.dead/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Actor Heath Ledger dies at 28

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said. The Academy Award-nominated actor was 28.

Ledger was found naked and unresponsive, facedown on the floor at the foot of his bed by a housekeeper trying to wake him for an appointment with a masseuse, said police spokesman Paul Browne. "Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed," he told CNN. "This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet." Browne later told reporters some prescription medications were found in the room, including sleeping pills. But he stressed police have made no determination of the cause of Ledger's death -- that would be done by the medical examiner. He said the pills were not "scattered about."

No note was found and there was no indication of foul play, Browne said. Ledger was found at about 3 p.m., and was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency personnel about 3:30 p.m.

A crowd of onlookers, photographers and reporters gathered outside the apartment building after news of Ledger's death was reported. Police officers were guarding the doors.

Browne said he did not know how long Ledger had been renting the apartment, which he said took up the entire fourth floor. An autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office.

Hollywood reacts
Condolences began pouring in from Ledger's friends and co-stars.

"I had such great hope for him," said Mel Gibson, who played Ledger's father in "The Patriot," in a statement. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."

Actress Nicole Kidman, a fellow Australian and close friend of Ledger's, said in a statement, "What a tragedy. My heart goes out to his family."

At the time of his death, Ledger had just finished playing the villain The Joker in "The Dark Knight," the latest installment in the Batman series. The film is to open in July.

Ledger was born in Perth, Australia, and named Heathcliff Andrew after the main characters of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." He began acting at a local theater as a child. Ledger's first American film was the teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" in 1999, and he immediately attracted attention from Hollywood. He passed up several scripts before taking a role in the Revolutionary War drama "The Patriot" in 2000 and "A Knight's Tale" in 2001. He also played a supporting role in "Monster's Ball," among other films.

"In a way I was spoon-fed a career," he told the Glasgow Herald in 2005. "It was fully manufactured by a studio that believed it could put me on their posters and turn me into a product. ... I hadn't figured out properly how to act, and all of a sudden I was being thrown into these lead roles."

Controversial role
But Ledger was perhaps best known for his 2005 portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain," about two cowboys who had a secret romantic relationship. The role earned him an Oscar nomination.

"I felt that choices were being made for me, so I feel this has been my time now to find the good stories and test myself," Ledger told the Glasgow Herald in the 2005 interview. "It has been an interesting year, where I finally have a sense of accomplishment."

Asked how he felt about filming love scenes with another man, Ledger said he and his co-star Jake Gyllenhaal simply focused on their roles.

"We can't say that we weren't nervous about it," Ledger told Oprah Winfrey in 2006. "But once the first take was over, it's like, 'OK. So what? It's kissing another human being. How are we going to finish this scene? Let's get on with it and let's get out of here.' "

In a written statement, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said it mourns Ledger's death, adding that his portrayal of Del Mar "changed hearts and minds in immeasurable ways."

Ledger has a daughter, Matilda Rose, born in 2005 to his then-girlfriend, Michelle Williams, who played his on-screen wife, Alma, in "Brokeback Mountain." The couple have since separated.
"He was just so respected in the industry," said Kim Serafin, senior editor of In Touch Weekly.
"It's just horribly tragic. He was just a fine actor and a good person, so this is horribly sad and very unexpected."

Monday, January 7, 2008

Not So Sure

I'm not really looking forward to going to Boracay with the family at the end of the month after reading in the paper about flooding and seeping sewage and smelly water in the vicinity of White Beach. I just don't want to risk going there and then having to experience these things as well. It would just be too expensive and too bothersome for the family. Furthermore, when I read this editorial from today's Inquirer, I was all the more decided to forego the trip and instead choose Bohol or Puerto Galera. I think that for more affordable prices, we could all have fun and at the same time, see sights as well. So tonight, Ruther and I will talk more deeply about this and hopefully, we will come to a decision about a destination.

I share the editorial from Inquirer here:

Boracay bomb
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:09am (Mla time) 01/07/2008

MANILA, Philippines - It does not take frequent visits to the famous white beaches of Boracay to realize that rapid growth is strangling the small island. Even a first-time traveler will notice, if he keeps his eyes open, that the crowded tourist destination has become even more congested. Growth has put a great strain on the island’s support systems, including those that carry potable water to the hundreds of resorts, bars and restaurants operating on the island and those that carry wastewater out.
Ask the regulars who are back in Boracay this week for an annual wind-surfing competition; quite a few will say that the world-famous island they have grown to love is an environmental time bomb.
Consider the numbers: Now a multibillion-peso industry, Boracay tourism probably attracted some 700,000 tourists last year—up by 200,000 from the half-million arrivals recorded only two years previously. To meet the explosion in demand, many investors are seeking to build more resorts and restaurants; pending applications include those for two 400-room hotels.
In an ideal world, these are applications that should be approved with all possible speed. But growth in Boracay has reached a stage where the paramount concern has shifted, from asking whether the island has enough rooms and facilities to service the continuing increase in tourist arrivals, to asking how much time the island has left before unchecked development leads to a collapse in services. To put it in terms appropriate to the modern fairy tale that is Boracay tourism: Is rapid growth killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?
The Department of the Environment and Natural Resources is putting together an “environmental master development plan” that should help provide the honest answer to that essential question, but the process depends in part on the successful implementation of a six-month suspension in new construction projects that Environment Secretary Lito Atienza announced last August.
Unfortunately, five months into the suspension, Atienza remains in a tug of war with the municipal council that governs Boracay. The other day, in a stunning admission of inutility, Atienza said: “We advised them [Malay, Aklan Mayor Cicero Cawaling and the municipal council] months ago to stop all development projects on the island before the studies that are being made by the Department of Tourism and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are completed. But it seems that construction there continues.”
It “seems” construction continues? Can’t Atienza say for sure? If Boracay is important enough for the country’s tourism prospects and as a regional development template, can’t Atienza take the time to verify ongoing construction projects for himself?
We agree with Atienza’s controversial suspension order; we share his premise that while continuing development is welcome, environmental sustainability is now the key standard of growth. But we must wonder at Atienza’s resolve. His suspension order was greeted with immediate resistance. A month after it was announced, the newspapers reported that construction projects were still ongoing. The town mayor hemmed and hawed and said a municipal council resolution was needed to put the suspension order into effect. Five months later, the resolution remains unpassed, and Atienza is reduced to admonishing the local mayor about the consequences of his inaction.
The local government would have to answer to its people, Atienza said, “if they persist in not implementing what is correct and mandated by law.” And in the meantime, the Boracay environmental time bomb is ticking.
If Atienza and Tourism Secretary Ace Durano are serious about keeping Boracay as a viable tourist destination for the next generation, they have many options to choose from. Atienza can re-impose his suspension order, on the grounds that it had never taken effect. Durano must put his department’s dollar-earning weight behind the order, and convince the municipal council which depends on the tourism dollars generated by Boracay that the suspension is in its best interests. And together, Atienza and Durano can make the case for development, not on Boracay, but on the Aklan mainland. After all, it is only 15 minutes away from the famous but now overcrowded beaches.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Aging Gracefully

I read this article and thought that it had a nice way of describing "aging" and how one could slow it down. Since I am not one of those searching for the fountain of youth, I think that this article suits me and what I want in life: to age gracefully.


How to Slow Down Your Body's Aging
Deepak Chopra

Q: How can I reverse my body aging?

A: There are three types of aging – chronological age (which is your age according to your date of birth), biological age (which is measured by looking at certain bio markers), and psychological age (which is dependent on your attitude.)

It is now known that psychological age correlates more closely to biological age than chronological age. If you have the attitude that you get better as you grow older in every way – physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially, then you will age in a much more graceful manner.The well known biological markers of aging include: blood pressure, bone density, body temperature regulation, basal metabolic rate, immune function, sugar tolerance, muscle mass, muscle strength, skin hickness (amount of wrinkles) immune function, and sex hormone levels.

If you want to slow down or even reverse these bio markers of aging, then practice one or more of the following:

1. Change your perception of time. Don't be in a hurry.
2. Get restful sleep.
3. Eat fresh, nutritious food.
4. Take at least two multivitamins with minerals every day.
5. Practice a mind body technique such as yoga or tai chi.
6. Exercise regularly.
7. Don't put toxins in your life, including toxic food, toxicemotions, toxic relationships, and avoid toxic environments or toxic relationships.
8. Have a flexible attitude to minor hassles.
9. Look at so-called problems as opportunities.
10. Nurture loving relationships.
11. Always have an attitude of curiosity, learning, and wonder and spend time with children.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Guilty

I was SO glad when I heard Joseph Estrada's verdict yesterday: Guilty for plunder. I was really happy about that, I no longer minded the not guilty verdict for perjury. I mean, what's perjury compared to plunder? I'm not really a political fan but I DO believe in justice. I believe that if you had the guts to do something bad or unlawful or sinful, then you should have the guts to accept the consequences of your actions. It's as simple as that. No need to get into the nitty gritty. No need for lawyer jargons and political words. When you look at it in black and white this is what it is: he commited a crime, therefore, he should be punished. It's good to know that there is still some justice in the Philippines. I hope other politikos will learn from this and realize, they cannot get away with their crimes whether it be here or in the afterlife. Karma will always find a way of settling the balance.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

I Heart Jet Li

Have you seen the new San Miguel beer commercial which stars Jet Li? I love it. If you haven't seen it yet, you can take a peek here. I have always been a Jet Li fan since waaaay back. My dad and siblings would huddle around our tv and watch his Once Upon a Time in China movies. We never got fed up of those. Really really great movies. Not only is he such a talented actor, I love that he is somewhat of a historian as well because his movies really depicts China as it was before. We would always enjoy and appreciate the colorful costumes, the creative props, the stunts and the martial arts moves. When Jet Li started doing Hollywood movies, I loved him more because despite the international prestige, he remained humble and down to earth. In the paper today, I read an article about him and after I finished reading it my admiration for this man increased a hundredfold. I've been searching the Philippine Star archives for the link but unfortunately I could not find it. Too bad. I so wanted to share that article here. Anyway, I was so glad to read that he enjoyed his stay in the Philippines. I so want to get his autograph but I think that is farfetched. No matter, I will always have his movies to inspire and entertain me and this I know for sure: I will always be a Jet Li fan. =D

Update:
Found an article in another paper which is VERY similar to what I read. Here it is.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Baywalk

I was not very pleased when I read in the papers that the new mayor of Manila ordered the removal of establishments along Baywalk. I think that is taking a step backwards. I found Baywalk to be such a pleasant place. When I had to "get away" for a while Baywalk was just a ride away. I was never scared being on my own in the crowd when I know that police officers patrolled the area regularly. I loved the sights, the colors, the lights, the blend of different kinds of people. I loved the quaint coffee shops, the strolling lovers, the laughing families, the morose individuals, the pensive, the lonely, the happy, the brooding. Such a mixture of people in a single place. I so miss it and now that there is no more Baywalk, it saddens me to no end. I do hope someone brings it back...