Of Pinoy flicks, TV shows and showbiz chismis

I’m not a big fan of Filipino movies and TV shows. Two reasons:

1. I wasn’t allowed to watch or read anything Pinoy when I was growing up. I compared notes with people in my generation and this rule applied to most middle class Pinoy kids of the ‘80s. Our parents discouraged us to watch Filipino shows aired on TV. Yes to Sesame Street, but no to Batibot. Yes to Dallas and The Love Boat. But no to Flor de Luna or Mga Batang Yagit.

For comics and magazines, my childhood bestriend – Minette – and I, used to secretly buy Pinoy Thriller and Funny comics when we go to Sunday mass together. We would sneak them into our bedrooms, away from the sight of our Moms. We will be grounded if they see us reading Pinoy comics.

For books, our Moms would buy as Sweet Valley High and Sweet Dreams. Pero bawal magbasa ng Pinoy pocketbooks.

2. When I was finally old enough to take my pick of TV shows and movies, I tried watching several Sharon Cuneta and Lorna Tolentino movies. I also watched Bagets and Ninja Kids. But most Pinoy movies that I watched never appealed to me. Not that I was accustomed to a different treatment of films, but objectively, I didn’t like their storyline, the effects were so outdated, the drama is over-the-top for my taste. Some movies were also poor adaptations of Hollywood movies.

I never enjoyed slapstick comedy, either, which also discouraged me from watching Pinoy TV shows.

Recently, however, I’ve been giving Pinoy shows and movies a second chance. Actually, this isn’t deliberate on my part. My boss – as brilliant as he is – is also the epitome of ka-jologs-an in terms of taste in movies, TV shows and even commercials. During lunchbreak, he would go on and on about the Pinoy movies and shows he watched and encourage us to see them as well. My teammates would also talk about Pinoy shows and I couldn’t catch up on the conversations because I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Who the hell is Uma of Pinoy Big Brother, anyway? I didn’t know Uma was a big-haired guy, until I saw him in Studio 23.

B. also likes – nay, loves watching showbiz chismis. In fact, I was surprised that she knows more about the local showbiz info than I do. So our Saturday and Sunday afternoons in Manila are spent watching the showbiz TV shows on channels 2 and 7.

Actually, we both like Nuts Entertainment. B. even has this video in Hong Kong where she was imitating Balakubak (Balita at Kwentong Bakla). I was laughing my ass off and until now, I’d play it over and over to get a good laugh.

After this, I’m getting my fix of Pinoy flicks. I rented La Visa Loca, starring Robin Padilla. It’s a comedy about how a lot of Pinoys desperately try to get a US Visa just to see the land of the milk and honey.

Para naman maka-bangka when my friends talk about Pinoy movies. Hahaha.

2:30pm, Hong Kong

It's mid-afternoon. I am dressed to go out already. Just waiting for B to get dressed as well.

While doing that, I have on my side an Isla Negra red wine, blue cheese and prosciutto crudo.

This is life.

Ask me if I still wanna go back to Manila.

Much ranting about nothing

9:28 am - Hong Kong.

I just had to be transported somewhere else.

To clear my head. To write.

Since the year started, I had nothing but more work and more projects on my plate. Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and other self-help books on time management are useless for people like me who do not have time to manage in the first place.

I clock in an average of 12 hours a day at work. I have my video production subject in school and a management training course from AIM. I go to the gym - and cannot afford not to go - what with my bad eating habits. And I have a girlfriend.

I can rant endlessly about it. There are a multitude of reasons why I have to do all these. Conversely, there are also a plethora of reasons why I shouldn't. It's not like I wasn't really left with choices.

I can choose to drop my subject - but I want to finish my Master's already.

I can drop out of my management training course, as well. But if I do so, then I won't get promoted faster.

I can stop going to the gym and just eat more wisely. But that's the thing - with all the stress at work, I can never eat wisely.

The only thing that I don't have too much hand on is work. No matter how efficient i try to be - work won't just stop. And what actually pisses me off is the fact that whenever I finish something ahead of time - there will just be more work added to my never-ending list.

For me to have this well-deserved vacay, I had to work until 10 or 11 almost everyday to get things done. And miraculously, I did. I left no pending tasks, attended to all the project teams who needed me. In fact, I got some of the deliverables emailed a day in advance.

But my mobile phone just won't stop ringing. Just like before, I was already queueing in NAIA's immigration and some PMs won't just stop calling - to ask me for things I've already done for them and have been sent a day earlier to their email.

I love what I do. I really do.

For almost a year now, there's no day that I don't look forward to going to work. I don't drag myself out of bed. I love my projects and being the OC me, I can't stop myself from going through each of them in the most detailed way that I can.

But sometimes, some people just give me this feeling that it's never going to be enough.

And I don't want to be burnt to the point that I just want to stop.

To think that all I am asking for is a 2-day break. 2 days - and I have to go to hell and back just for me to get some Me time.

So it's probably wise to get myself out of this couch now and enjoy the Hong Kong breeze as much as I can.