Ibyang

Guilty!

12 September 2007 Ibyang Sanchez 3 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs

Edsa Dos, January 2001 (source:wikipedia)

I was there in Edsa Dos. I was there twice, first was during a long lunch break from work and second was on that Friday night when everyone from all walks of life gathered to fight for what they believed in. After six years, the Erap verdict is out.

Guilty on the charge of plunder.
Not guilty on the charge of perjury.
Sentenced to reclusion perpetua.
First President of the Philippines to be convicted.

-o0o0o0o-

On a personal note:
Husband and I haven’t been emailing for the past couple days because he’s busy with his company’s ongoing exhibit in Dubai. So I was touched when he texted me this afternoon saying “Guilty si Erap…”. I know that this is not the most romantic text ever (hehehe) but I’m touched by his thoughtfulness. Ganito kasi yun, when my husband is doing something really important at work like launching of new product, exhibits, coming up with a company catalogue, etc. I never bother him and I never expect him to email me back or text me back. When it comes to his career, I support him by taking a backseat sometimes because I understand how he works as an artist. So when he unexpectedly texted me about Erap, I was touched because in the midst of him being busy, he even remembered to text me that news. He knows that those kind of news are things that I really care to know about. When I read his text message, I just laughed and said “he really knows me well.” And it also made me feel that he respect and gives importance to the things I believe in. Something to smile about today.

Being Married, Maintaining Friendships, Having Fun

10 September 2007 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs

Sometimes you just have to breathe out and relax. Sometimes you just have to chill. When you’re tired and slowly losing all your energy to even smile, you just have to call your friends and say, “Anyone who wants to have dinner with me?”

The past few weeks were totally exhausting for me. So many things going on at work plus I’ve got familial issues (like my husband’s much awaited visa approval–the waiting is endless and it’s killing me) hanging, so I emailed my girlfriends so we can celebrate the APEC –joke! 😛

I wanted to feel good, happy and worry-free and I’m glad I have girlfriends whose willing to laugh off life’s what-have-yous with me.

You know the email advising a woman getting married to never, EVER, forget your girlfriends? I totally agree with that one. I for one, wouldn’t leave my friends hanging just because I am busy being a wife (that’s why there is such a thing as time management). I’m totally amazed at how my married girlfriends manage to maintain a home and still be there for their friends at the same time. Not everyone can do this, I know so coz I’ve seen lots of married women isolate themselves from friends. I don’t blame them, maybe there are women built that way. But for me, it’s friends who give me additional strength and positivity to carry on everyday. It’s the company of friends that rejuvenates me.

(L to R: Yyoni, Ibyang, Rachelle & Hilda)

Anyway, so last Thursday, we decided to hit Chinatown for dinner. We had four entrees and thought we would never be able to finish them all. But lo and behold, we didn’t have any take aways. We thought we’d be able to bring home some leftover food so that incase we get hungry at Hilda’s place, we’d have something to eat. But we were wrong hehehe. It’s either we were just very hungry because we came from work or we are just matakaw individuals.

After dinner, we decided to celebrate some more by drinking at Hilda’s place! Woohoo! Vodka to the max!

Oh how I missed drinking. It’s been a long long time. So long that I can’t remember the last time I got drunk or even got tipsy. Puro kape sessions kasi lately dahil sa Starbucks eh. And, my alcohol tolerance wasn’t as good as before. After three shots, i got a little dizzy and lost count of shots I’ve dranked. All I knew was that the four of us finished the whole bottle.

But even if I’m tipsy already, I was still able to talk sense. I remember telling my friends about the robbery in our Taytay home and I was able to even answer Yyoni’s question “What’s good about being 30?” But I can’t write down my answers here now coz I forgot hehehe. Basta, all I remembered was Rache and Hilda agreeing to what I said so my answer must have been sensible.

We all ended up happy and red from all the alcohol we consumed but more than anything, I think we were all happy because inspite of all of us being busy with work and personal lives, we were able to be there for each other.

Sober and drunk photos here: Girls Night Out (6 Sept 2007).

Friday’s Feast #5

7 September 2007 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Everyday Life

Super Bowl’s Salt & Pepper Spareribs (Dinner with my girlfriends at Chinatown)

Appetizer

Using only one word, how does grocery shopping make you feel?

Wifely. 🙂

Soup
What is your favorite part about the season of Autumn?
The falling of leaves, nostalgic and very romantic.

Salad
Have you ever had any bad experiences online?
Yes, I made a serious blog entry and then somebody just mocked it or made a joke out of it.

Main Course

Name three things that make you happy daily.

1. Knowing that I am loved by family and friends

2. Accomplishing tasks

3. Doing good deeds

Dessert

What one household cleansing or organizing item would you not want to be without?

A very effective Dishwashing Liquid Cleanser as I’m very particular about cleanliness of dinnerwares, cutleries, pots, pans, etc.

Against Bigotry

5 September 2007 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Deep Thoughts

For the past two weeks, I’ve been following the story of a certain travel writer/columnist who wrote about not wanting to be in the same airplane with OFWs which instigated several (I think that’s an understatement) negative comments from all parts of the world.

Much has been said and written about the controversy. She resigned from People Asia and Manila Standard Today (MST) last week and so I thought it’s all over. However, last Monday, she wrote an article again at MST who confirmed that they did not accept the writer’s resignation due to personnel issues.

I’m an HR Practictioner and my question is: What personnel issue is there when an employee files a resignation? Anong issue doon? If an employee willingly resigns, the only thing that the manager of the employee and HR can do is to accept it.

If there is indeed a personnel issue, why can’t MST tell the public about it when this controversy started in public anyway?

With so many loopholes in MST’s side of the story, I’m therefore supporting Tingog.com’s campaign against them. “Do not go to their website, do not buy their paper, and anything that they write.”

I sincerely support OFWs all over the world, thus I’m making a stand on this. I’m not putting OFWs on a pedestal nor I’m supporting this just because I am one, I’m simply against anyone or any organization that belittles Filipinos in general. OFWs or not, we must always respect each other, period. What was written on the writer’s article had BIGOTRY and DISCRIMINATION written all over it. And I’m not a supporter of either thing, nor am I a supporter of a newspaper or website that published such.

If you want to know more about what I’m talking about, here are some related links:
1. Fire Malu Fernandez
2. Statement of the Filipino Press Club in Dubai
3. Media in Focus
4. Renewed Boycott Against Manila Standard Today

Lomo I Love

4 September 2007 Ibyang Sanchez 3 Comments Category: Lomo Life, Photography

My first lomographic experience was simply different. Since the tool I chose to “play” with is the plastic BUT mighty mighty Holga, which is all low-tech and very manual art. I repeat, very manual. From choosing the format (whether you want your photos to turn into a 6×4.5cm or 6x6cm), to the loading of the film (which was very tedious at first), to the taping of sides of the Holga to avoid light leaks, to focusing (there are certain meters to consider), to winding up the spool for the next capture of photo/s, ‘til the unloading of the film. And since I use a 120mm film, there’s also that challenge to find a processing lab where I can have my films developed (good thing I found one near Central Station). It’s a whole lot of adjustment especially when you’re used to the ever-reliable and automatic digital camera.

Very manual indeed, but very satisfying. Like literally making art with your bare hands. And then waiting, waiting and more waiting to see what your creation looked like. There’s something about the discipline of lomography which makes you unhurried, patient and romantic. You shoot…you think or you don’t…shoot some more… anticipate what your photos would look like in print…shoot again and again…ahhh, your roll of film is over. And then you take it to the lab for processing…waiting, excitement and more anticipation, like waiting for a child to be born or waiting for a loved one to come back. And then it’s handed over to you, fresh and still warm. Now you see your work of art and then you smile, giggle, almost laughing…surprised to see that it didn’t turn out bad at all. Yes, that’s how my first lomographic experience turned out.

For my first roll of film, the lab was able to process, develop and print nine photos. I was aiming for at least 15 but since half of the time, I was making a lot of errors and forgetting to set up the camera properly, only nine were acceptable enough to print. Not all nine photos were good though. There were about four that was better than the rest.

One Lonely Tree (Bicentennial Park)

Left photo: Multiple Exposure shot-1st shot: tall structure; 2nd shot: the dome (Olympic Park)

Right photo: The Telstra Stadium (Olympic Park)

This is my favorite from the lot: Hilda in Holga

To achieve this, I had to use one of the split image lens I bought.

I’m now on my second roll of film and still very clumsy with use of the Holga. But I’m definitely enjoying the learning part of it. And I’m looking forward to lots and lots of happy accidents with my Holga.

Before I end, let me just share with you the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography (which will also serve as a reference for me):

1. Take your LOMO everywhere you go and whenever you go.
2. Use it any time – day or night.
3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it.
4. Shoot from the hip.
5. Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible.
6. Don’t think.
7. Be fast.
8. You don’t have to know beforehand what you’ve captured on film.
9. You don’t have to know afterwards, either.
10. Don’t worry about the rules. (source: Wikipedia)

Note:
Special thanks to Larry Anda for photographing my Holga.