Orphan Boy and His Toy

Just wanted to share what my Associate PR Director – Sir Mark Parlade, wrote in his blog after our huge event yesterday. Here it goes...

Tired but I can't complain. One, more people worked harder, longer hours to put together today's Jollibee MaAga ang Pasko Bash for orphans. And two, I've lost my voice.

In the chaos and confusion of coming up with a perfect event to make our client happy, we almost missed this one beautiful moment that makes today's craziness just not matter. Thanks to Manila Santos of abscbn.com for seeing it and sharing it with me.

When we were giving out the packs of used toys and books to the orphans, one pensive little boy quietly recieved his. He put it on his lap and didn't open it at first. Then he very slowly opened it and pulled out a teddy bear. With a slight smile and a gleam in his eyes, he held it up to look at it. And kissed it. Then he gently tucked the bear back into the bag and held it close to his chest.

I'll sleep a little better tonight thinking about this happy little orphan boy and his new toy.

And this is the reason why I finally feel the Christmas Spirit… :)

The toys has come a long way....

for this little boy to have a special day. :)

I miss...

THIS. Looking forward to the sequel already. WOOT WOOT!

the love we deserve

my favorite post secret for this week.

People ask me how do I do it? Or Why do it do it? I never found the right words but this 'secret' was able to answer those questions :)

Limbo

lim⋅bo /ˈlɪmboʊ/ [lim-boh]

–noun, plural -bos.

1. (often initial capital letter) Roman Catholic Theology. a region on the border of hell or heaven, serving as the abode after death of unbaptized infants (limbo of infants) and of the righteous who died before the coming of Christ (limbo of the fathers or limbo of the patriarchs).

2. a place or state of oblivion to which persons or things are regarded as being relegated when cast aside, forgotten, past, or out of date: My youthful hopes are in the limbo of lost dreams.

3. an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place

4. a place or state of imprisonment or confinement

Let’s concentrate on definition number three. Yup. That’s where I am right now. The saying “this too shall pass” has been my mantra for the past couple of days and honestly it’s already killing me. This is applicable on a lot of areas in my life right now.

It frustrates me like anything and there are times I just chose to be apathetic – the thing is….that’s not me. I’d always been the type to be both reactive and proactive on different situations. Now I just find myself just shaking my head and walking away.

I’d want to believe that this is just a phase. I’ve been stuck in limbo for quite some time now. It sucks big time when you can’t even decide what you want to do or where you want to go. Please let it be a phase, I’d just want this feeling to go away.

The World is Full of Magic

Make a wish and place it in your heart. Anything you want, everything you want. Do you have it? Good. Now believe it can come true. You never know where the next miracle is gonna come from, the next smile, the next wish come true. But if you believe that it's right around the corner, and you open your heart and mind to the possibility of it, to the certainty of it. You just might get the thing you're wishing for. The world is full of magic. You just have to believe in it. So make your wish. Do you have it? Good. Now believe in it. With all your heart.
- One Tree Hill, Season 5, Episode 13

I am obviously addicted to the show already.

The Giver

I didn’t know if I was going to put this under ‘blogs’ or ‘reviews’. Just wanted to ramble my thoughts so here it goes...The book “The Giver” ,hit me straight to the heart. It’s a good thing that a few high school students (?) are obliged to read this, since it opens up to a lot of philosophical ideas. And this is one of the statements that struck me (Chapter 13): “We really have to protect people from wrong choices”.

When I was reading this book the first thing that popped into my head was the movie “Pleasantville”. It was all black and white – everything was …well in their terms “perfect”. Everyone had a designated role; responsibilities and expectations were set and everyone had to live up to them; no one can ever feel hungry and everyone was part of a family.

Imagine a world without color. So how do you see the magnificence of a rainbow? How can you actually achieve that feeling of APPRECIATION?

Imagine a world where the word love is forbidden to be used. So what keeps you going each day?

Imagine a world where personal freedom is not practiced, simply because society wants to protect people from making the wrong choices. The community doesn’t want people to experience hurt, pain and suffering. Ideal, huh? Hrrrm...

What I love about this book is how it highlights the concept of freewill. Yup, one of the greatest blessings given to us by the Man up Above. It may result torment. It may cause us that feeling of regret. But I strongly believe that so much beauty can come out of it. Like…

You get to appreciate yourself more and the world around you.

You get to express to someone how much you love them a thousand times over and never get tired of it.

You get to learn your lesson and have the strength to share it with other people (and inspire them!)

You get to save people from their sins just as what the Big Man Above did when He was crucified.

No matter how hard we try to protect each other from different choices and putting ourselves in a cookie cutter world (or stereotyping, eh?) – At the end of the day – the colors will still be vibrant, emotions will still overflow and love will forever remain unconditional.

No one has the right to complain in the world he or she is in now – because the truth is; it’s so wonderful! Savor it. No one can blame anyone but themselves on the choices they make because no matter how long the agony is, no matter how painful – (let me stress it out once again) something good or maybe I should say something GREAT, will always come out of it.

Kudos to Lois Lowry for writing this book, at least I know the next generation will get to appreciate the splendor that life has to offer them.

i miss....

I miss….

Nick Carter & Aj Mclean from the Backstreet Boys

(so one beats up his gf and the other had to go to Rehab)

Stephen Gately from Boyzone

(he finally came out)

Phil Rodell (?) from Code Red

(where is he now?)

Duncan James from Blue

(i think he's the hottest)

Jeff Timmons from 98 degrees

(he already has a baby, right?)

JC Chasez from Nsync

(I blame Tara Reid for your solo career)

Taylor Hanson from the Hansons

(still hot, has like two kids already right?)

Dave Moffatt from the Moffats

(so I heard he’s also gay?!?!)

Scott from 5ive

(err haven't heard anything from him)

Kavana from.... errr yeah

(wasn't there a rumor that he was gay too?)

Bryan Abrams from Color Me Badd

(yes I was 7 during that time and was singing "I wanna sex you up" I didn't even know what it meant!)

I miss Keanu Reeves in the music video "Rush"

(an labo!!!)

This is the reason why I had a very exciting childhood, eh? :P Subscribing to Smash Hits and Bop instead of buying cigarettes and coffee.

Leo, this blog was for you. hahaha!

We all have our own story to tell

After having dinner with my girls last night, I realized that we all have our own story to tell. We all have our weird anecdotes that can make us laugh so hard or lead us all into tears.

• Being betrayed by the people (or that certain person) who we thought loved us the most
• Overcoming your fear and taking risks
• Falling into the trap of unrequited love
• Fighting for something or someone who’s just not worth it
• Being deceived by our dream job
• Having no support from our own family
• Falling in love with the wrong (kind of) person
• Losing your virginity to someone who totally doesn’t deserve it
• Getting reprimanded at home or work for something you didn’t even do in the first place and taking all the shit
• Questioning your sexual preference
• Seeing your photo in the newspaper or watching yourself on tv
• Getting proposed in the most romantic way
• Planning your future ahead of time (wayyyy ahead of time)
• Expecting a baby at such a young age
• Meeting someone who we’ve idolized for the longest time
• Drinking a bottle of Baygon simply because you wanted to
• Feeling lonely when you’re surrounded by a gazillion friends
• A job offer that never even crossed your mind
• Losing a friend and rebuilding the relationship after several years and as if nothing happened
• ten million more situations

At the end of the day, it’s what makes us the person we are today. These stories mold us to be a better person. They make our lives more interesting and colorful. Cliché, right? One of these days, I’d write all these stories and compile it into one book. I’m gonna bring Chicken Soup for the soul to a different level.

The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken.
Henry W. Longfellow

Quote for the Day

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware - beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
-Kent Nerburn

Thanks Zaney for sharing the story and thanks for the company tonight :) Forever cherished.

There is a way to be good again

There are times when you are emotional - you tend to do the craziest things. Like you’re just extremely happy or in the most terrible pain – you don’t realize that you’ve already neglected your duties, stepped on several people who matter the most or gone against your principles.

You do a toast for your own satisfaction but once your glass touches another – because of the force or your clumsiness – the expensive wine glass breaks.

I can laugh it off and act as if nothing happened OR I can acknowledge the damage, pick the piece up together and clean up the spilled drink.

No matter how embarrassing, painful or difficult your situation is – there is way to be good again. One of the best lines I read from the book, “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini .

As much as possible – we all want to bury the past but sometimes it has a way to claw itself out but in the end – there will always be redemption.

Funny on my way home, the song “Things will Go my Way” by The Calling played in iPod randomly:

For all the lives
I've tasted
Just looking for the truth
For all the dreams I'm chasing
What am I to do
With everything against me
The answers are all wrong
Open now, I'll find out
It was working all along

The past couple of weeks have been a rollercoaster ride. I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I know I’ve misjudged and disappointed a lot of people – I am not perfect but there is always a WAY to be good again – simply because I BELIEVE. I still have my faith to hold on to. It will happen – I’ll be able to clean up my mess and I know it’s not going to be easy to get there but I’ll eventually be the best person I can be. I just have to keep the fire burning. Have that desire to change, have the heart to forgive and the understanding to accept things the way they are.

If you Love Someone, Ask Them For Nothing

If you love someone, ask them for nothing. Don't hold them back from their destiny. Don't keep them from going off in search of their own answers. Don't ask them for commitment. You will know commitment is real when it is something given willingly, and not as something obligatory. Don't ask them for promises. If you are patient, if you have faith, you will know in your heart when the right time for promises has come.

And when that time arrives, then you will see that you have both lost nothing by setting each other free, and have instead gained a richer, fuller life, a wealth of experiences, and a stronger certainty of your desires.

But should they not return to you, then life hasn't cheated you because no promises were broken. Your bitterness will not last long, and you will feel thankful and blessed that at the very least, this beautiful soul has colored your life, that knowing them has already made life infinitely more meaningful.

By setting a person free, you run a risk of them not returning. But always remember that you found them beautiful precisely because they were free. People are like sunlight. You can feel their warmth, and their glow, but you can't hold them in your hand and keep them with you forever. People CHOOSE to stay. But a choice is made more meaningful when it is made despite so many other options. Love has no restrictions and it is through mistakes that sometimes we see the right answer. Because if you love someone, you ask them for nothing and they will come back to you.

I got this for Anniqua! Hehehe Annick actually – thanks dear for sharing this with me :) I will forever cherish our bonding session at KK! :D

Badabing Badaboom!

Uninspired. Lower Part of the Wheel. Demotivated.

Those were the three words that would best describe this weird phase, and then there’s a spark that just shows up in its most unique and unexpected form.

I woke up this morning thinking “SSDD” – same sh*t different day.

So this morning in my usual spot at Figaro, having my first kape and yosi for the day, someone actually introduced himself to me. I’ve been noticing him actually, I always see him around the Makati Area, other coffee shops, crossing the streets etc. He looks like a typical Pinoy but for some weird reason he stands out. He’s hard to miss.

He’s actually in the same industry as I am now. Events, production, pr…all those shenanigans. He’s been in the industry for almost ten years and still makin’ it. I actually enjoyed listening to his adventures and his misadventures. For the first time, I found myself really quiet just listening to his very very colorful life (imagine he worked with Jude Law and Ewan McGregor?!?!)

In other words, I found my spark again. J He even told me about the big booboos he encountoured – loosing 400 thousand pesos but gaining a 10 million project in 3 years.

The truth is, I see myself in this industry for a very long time. There’s no other place or job I can imagine myself with.

A client shared to me that he was meant to see the world. The truth is, with his job, he has seen more than half of the world. So then he asked me “Char, so what do you think are you meant to do?” with a smile, it just came out of my lips effortlessly I said “I’m meant to meet people. All kinds.” (Traveling comes with that I hope?)

For someone as young as 24, I am holding on to that vision. :) For once in my life I am positively sure about something.

So let's see. I'm waiting for my 'badabing badaboom' moment.

Sige nga, in other words. OO NA. He’s CUTE. Even if he’s 10 years older!

I'd want to have coffee with Neil Gaiman

I came across this quote. BAAM. I’d want to sit down and have kape and yosi with this guy.

"Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”
- Neil Gaiman

Reposting: Closing Cycles

One always has to know when a stage comes to an end.

If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through.

Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished. Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden?

You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that.

But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister, everyone will be finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.

None of us can be in the present and the past at the same time, not even when we try to understand the things that happen to us. What has passed will not return: we cannot for ever be children, late adolescents, sons that feel guilt or rancor towards our parents, lovers who day and night relive an affair with someone who has gone away and has not the least intention of coming back.

Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away. That is why it is so important (however painful it maybe!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home. Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.
Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood. Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.

Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the ideal moment.

Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person. Nothing is irreplaceable. A habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.

Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.

I'm going to change.

So why did I do it? I could offer a million answers, all false. The truth is that I'm a bad person, but that's going to change, I'm going to change. This is the last of this sort of thing. I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm going to be just like you: the job, the family, the fucking big television, the washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electrical tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mortgage, starter home, leisurewear, luggage, three-piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine to five, good at golf, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption, clearing the gutters, getting by, looking ahead, to the day you die. - Renton from Trainspotting

Reposting: The Quarter Life Crisis

I remember reading this a few years back. Thanks Pao Picasso for sharing this with me again and reminding me stuff today :) "everything will be fine"

The Quarter-Life Crisis
by unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

....

Ahhh, things are slowly falling into place.

I can finally breathe. It only gets better. :)

David Cook – I HEART YOU.

…if you can’t stand the heat then get out of the kitchen! Ok… If you can’t COOK then get out of the kitchen! Hehehe if David Cook was in the kitchen, I will forever stand the heat… okay I’m not making sense anymore.

I was never an American Idol fan, but for the first time, I left the office before 7pm, as I walk towards the train station, I had to make sure that I had the correct pace so that when I get home it was 8:30 punto for American Idol. Eww, I know right?

After watching the show it’s a given DAVID ARCHULETA. will win, but I don’t care because David Cook still reigns my heart…ACCK as if that really matters. But seriously, I think Cook has this way of connecting to crowd and having that certain chemistry with them too, I see otherwise with Archuleta. (or maybe I’m just really that bias?!?!?!) and there’s more VARIETY with Cook. Swear!!!

But anyway, I just love the fact that Cook sang ‘The World I Know” by Collective Soul because it’s like one of my favorite songs…EVER. I think I was in 6^th grade or something, yeah…. (aside from listening to Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys, I had a little knowledge on pop-rock)

Even if Cook will lose L ( AMERICA, prove me WRONG!!!!) it’s okay because I know, I sooooo know he’s gonna be famous and yes Ayala Malls will now bring him to Manila (I give it 6 months) and I’m back to my teeny bopper days. :D

*Woot woot*

Remaining Open to Love

A Rose dreamed day and night about bees, but no bee ever landed on her petals.

The flower, however, continued to dream. During the long nights, she imagined a heaven full of bees, which flew down to bestow fond kisses on her. By doing this, she was able to last until the next day, when she opened again to the light of the sun.

One night, the moon, who knew of the rose’s loneliness asked: “Aren’t you tired of waiting?”

“Possibly but I have to keep trying”

“Why?”

“Because if I don’t remain open, I will simply fade away”

At Times, when loneliness seems to crush all beauty, the only way to resist is to remain open.

An excerpt from Paulo Coelho’s Book “Like the Flowing River”, for my heart broken friends out there? A short story to give you hope, I never stopped believing, neither should you

Hello Boys!!!

This is just an excerpt from a blog wrote like a year ago: http://charanoid.multiply.com/journal/item/61/Only_Charisse_Vilchez....truly_one_of_a_kind

Back in Assumption unfortunately we wear a uniform, honestly I don’t like going to the mall (except for Quad) wearing my uniform. As much as possible I always bring casual clothes with me, apparently one day after class I decided to go home with my friend thinking I’ll get picked up there by my dad and I didn’t need extra clothes since I’m just going to make “tambay” there anyway,right? Wrong! Suddenly, the guy my friend liked for the longest time asked us to have dinner with him. Of course she had the advantage to wear anything…and as for me..I REFUSE to go out in my uniform. I asked her if I could borrow any top from her or whatever. Unfortunately the only piece of clothing that could fit me was a blue “baby tee” ( I hardly even wear baby tees!) with a huge colorful caption that says “HELLO BOYS” – yep…ALL CAPS…in BOLD…SCREAMING and yes…even if you were 20 feet away from me…you could read it. Maybe this could be the answer to my “singlehood” but NO! I refuse to parade around greenhills wearing that shirt….Unfortunately, I had to go down at Uni-mart and exchange my friend’s dollars (since she didn’t have the time to park anymore)…oh and for the record, I got all HELLOs in the world from the security guards.

Of course this anecdote never failed to make anyone laugh, so my friend, Paulo Navarra had this brilliant idea of making this his peg for one of his shoots.

I hate posing in front of the camera, seriously. But I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw this photo. I must say he did a fantastic job with the help of the make-up artist – Liee Lozano.

So this is the the shirt. Tell me would you see yourself walking around a public place wearing this shirt?

To view more photos of Paulonav. You can check out his site: http://paunav.multiply.com/photos

untitled

"Passion is a crime because not everyone has it"

....so when in doubt? ALL OUT.

when Robot Chicken made sense

a cartoon from robot chicken. and my friends and i would always APPLY this in our DRAMATIC life.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tWsVDs-oCEE&feature=related

watch it. deemmit!!!

Chemistry

Chemistry has never been my favorite subject back in high school. I suck in it. I don’t even know how I even passed that subject! I just remember memorizing the periodical table so that I can ace the weekly tests before class would start! Hahaha! For some weird reason, when I see formulas on the board I just cringe and I want to shoot myself because I have to do these computations to make it balance. (is that the term for it?!?!!).

Let’s link it with the “L” word. (ewww). Ok, I’ve always been a fan of chemistry between a boy and a girl. Yes, when I see couples, for me that’s one factor that has to be present, I have to see the fireworks one way or another. Why? Because it makes me believe… It makes me believe that one day I’ll have that magic with someone special.

And then it hit me…. Sometimes when there’s chemistry between you and another person it doesn’t mean that you guys completely feel the same way towards each other …You guys just simply get a long. You guys just have the same wavelength. You’re into whatever he or she’s into. You guys understand each other. You guys complement each other but it stops there.

And that’s the science of it all, even if you have chemistry it doesn’t mean you guys end up together. It's just not meant to be. It’s a fact. I had to learn and accept it the hard way even if people see the “combustion” of it all.