It’s official: The Divatrocious returns
Coming from Manila Standard news sources itself, it’s true: The Divalicious will resume publication this Monday. An insider said: “while Malu Fernandez indeed has submitted her resignation, her resignation has not been accepted by higher management, hence we will continue publishing her column.”
It’s a free country after all. And since this is a free country, please be informed that Divatrocious and the pictures therein is a trademark of annalyn.net. You may use the the term freely under copyleft principles, or at least under Ms. Fernandez repents and realizes fully that she’s not being Divalicious (noooh! not at all) in being the mahaderang matapobre to OFWs.
Welcome to Post # 500
Revised to read as : “I feel like I practically know you because of your hair-splitting blog entries.”
anyway, welcome to post number five hundred and you guessed it right, this is such a milestone for me all of this blogging hoopla is harder than i originally thought i feel like i’ve been writing forever in fact i’ve entertained the delusion that what i’ve been writing all along are of epic proportions in the league of melville’s moby dick the good thing with blogging is that I’ve beaten an indian actor in the google search for ajay and also an american author in the search for annalyn the bad thing with blogging is that no one texts and calls me anymore they just read my blog okay you guys still email me but that’s for some chain letter i’d rather delete don’t be selfish please comment
A toast to all that, and that. Coke Light Strong Ice anyone? 
WikiPilipinas: Call for contributions
My Blog-O-Rama column in Manila Bulletin this week deals with “WikiPilipinas and today’s knowledge revolution.”
If you belong to the older generation (like me), do you remember the time when passing a term paper entailed being holed up in the library for hours? Poring through thousands of titles was a great challenge as finishing the paper itself. Of course during this time, buying a 24- or 30-volume encyclopedia was a status symbol in Filipino families, much like owning a piano or having a member of the family work in Saudi or Southern California.
Who would have thought that the encyclopedia would go the way of the dinosaur? The availability of online reference tools these days is simply immense, so much so that the term “research” is already an understatement. And from the vastness of the info universe comes now WikiPilipinas, the net encyclopedia which dispenses all sorts of knowledge pertaining to the Philippines and Filipinos.
Here’s a quick procession of facts about the all-Pinoy wiki: it was conceived on Feb.14 2007 with Gaspar Vibal (of the publishing house fame) as the founder and Richard Grimaldo as the webmaster. The formal site, using an open content management system, was first made available online last June 12 and as of August 23, hit the 100,000 visitor mark shortly after it was launched and announced to bloggers and journalists.
When blogs can take down royalty (and Malu Fernandez)
The Bitch has resigned, and if there’s one thing that the Malu Fernandez issue has taught us, it is the viral capability of blogs and assorted online media, to make things happen. In 1986, people converged in army camps with rosaries and warm bodies to topple down a dictatorship. In 2007 and beyond, it appears like the rules have changed. Causes and advocacies will no longer be waged in the actual battlefront but in the arena of blogs, wikis and other influencers of public opinion. Still bloodless like People Power but just as potent nonetheless.
Truth is, Malu Fernandez worked for a newspaper and a glossy upscale magazine. I don’t know what effect the whole affair had on the hierarchy of power, especially as a call to boycott the two publications had been made at the height of the controversy (first aired in Tingog.com). Manila Standard Today and People Asia were sorely limited in their circulation, but not when the pages in question were scanned, emailed and reprinted for everybody to see in an internet-waged campaign. Knowing the actual and possible damage the brouhaha had on the reputation of MST and People Asia themselves, it was highly possible that Malu Fernandez was forced to resign. Or maybe even her haughty manner just couldn’t take the heat. Hell hath no greater fury than when our (long-suffering) OFWs are scorned.
Tama nga Malu, magbakasyon ka muna hija. Nalulungkot ako at ikaw ay nakatanggap ng death threats. Hindi na dapat umabot pa sa ganito. Hindi na dapat umabot pa sa puntong insultuhin nila pati katabaan mo gayong alam naman naming gumastos ka ng libu-libong dolyares para sa weight loss mo. Hindi naman kasi kasalanan ang maging mataba o mayaman, ang maging payatot o dukha…. ang malaking pagkakamali mo lang ay insultuhin ang sensibilidad ng kapwa mo Pilipino na naghihirap makipagsapalaran sa ibang bansa. Inisip mo man lang ba na malagay sa kalagayan ng mga OFWs na nilait-lait mo? Inisip mo ba kung paano malayo sa sarili mong pamilya ng sampung buwan o di kaya’y dalawang taon? I bet hindi ka tatagal ng isang buwan na wala kang masahe o manicure mula sa pobreng alindahaw na manicurista/masahista mo, pero ang mga OFW na ito na umaalingasaw sa pabango nilang Jovan whatev ay kailangang tiisin ang pang-aalipusta/panggagahasa ng kanilang mga amo. Siguro nga ay hindi man lang sumagi sa isip mo ang mga bagay na ito and it took this incident para ikaw ay bumaba sa ivory tower at ma-realize na ang gulong ng ating lipunan ay hindi umiikot sa mga burgis na katulad mo.
In the comments section of Manolo Quezon’s post on the matter, reader Arman De La Cruz has an amusing take on what happens now to Malu Fernandez, and we quote:
1. RIDE THE PLANE
kawawa naman sya, isang taon syang di makakasakay sa ano mang eroplano domestic or international man, baga magulpi sya kasi her pictures are all over the Internet at lahat ng ating mahal na OFWs ay sumasakay everyday to almost all of domestic and foreign flights…
2. GO TO THE MALLS
pano sya pupunta ng MALL? Shangrila Mall, Powerplant, The Block, Podium at iba pang sosyal na Malls? marami ring OFWs ang ipinapasayal mga families nila sa malls na to. mapapadeliver na lang sya ng perfume at LV bags? Or sa tutuban sya at divisoria mamimili with all the disguise…
Read more
Oh sweetness! Manila welcomes first Mrs. Fields Cookie Cafe
Cookieholics rejoice! The well-loved Mrs. Fields has grown into a fully-functional Cookie Cafe and it’s coming in our beloved city of Manila on September 1.
Having been a few of the lucky ones to be given a preview of the cafe before it opens to the public, we must say Mrs. Fields at the Manila Pavilion will soon become a hit because of its diverse offerings and heavenly dessert delights, all aimed at satisfying the sweet tooth in you.
Just a few of its mouthwatering selections: giant cookie cakes which you can have inscribed with personalized messages; M & M -encrusted cookie cups; to-die-for gelato in close to a dozen flavors; scrumptious muffins; decadent brownies; yummy milkshakes; and of course cookies just like our mom used to make it.
Mrs. Fields was game enough to open its doors to bloggers and I signed up for the Blog and Soul event not knowing that the owner was my former boss in PR, Gerwyn See. He he. Gerwyn, together with tres charming wife Sheryl, own the master franchise for Mrs. Fields in the Philippines. The two young entrepreneurs have grand plans of making Mrs. Fields Cookie Cafe the ultimate dessert destination and am sure that with a savvy marketing concept, they will draw the foodie crowd in.
On ‘choosing your own battles’
Life is a constant struggle.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned with age, it’s the fact that we always have the option of choosing how to react to certain actions and situations. This is more important than we think because our state of happiness or unhappiness depends on it. Call it a matter of principle or common sense but I do believe that not all battles are worth fighting for . We choose only the battle(s) worth our effort and we stick with it.
I am saying this because our existence is too short for waging all sorts of battles and it’s a pity how we see it unfold everyday just because of some preconceived notion or prejudiced mindset. Should we really risk destroying that friendship or relationship by uttering that remark or doing that deed, or are we better off withholding it for a moment.. who knows we might have a different feeling or opinion afterwards?
LiveBlogging with Carl Ocab: “How To Make Money Online with a 14-Year Old”
Carl Ocab has been in the news lately due to questions of his ‘authenticity.’ Is he the one behind the successful money-making blog or is he not?
As a blog columnist, it seemed fair enough to test his blogging skills in action, something which he happily obliged at an internet cafe somewhere in Glorietta 3.
I have to admit I had BIG doubts about the KidBlogger prior to meeting him. He turned out to be super-shy in person… a man of few words, but not in the written word. He said he doesn’t mind the suspicions and speculations at all since it only gives more “buzz” to his blog. Oh…. spoken like a true internet marketer!
Following are excerpts of the liveblogging:
Manila Bay sunset
Manila, my Manila….
the sun sets so beautifully,
it is almost like a dream.
** photo credits to a photographer friend who wishes not to be given credit.
Why Baywalk deserved to close
So Manila’s famed Baywalk is no more.
The business establishments have been torn down, I mean; not those pretty lollipop lights which Manila’s feisty mayor should do well to maintain – even if it reminds him of a political era gone by.
I have never been a fan of the Baywalk in the first place, even if it held a character of its own. There was just something improper about drinking beer in a place and then when your bladder is starting to act up (like I do when I drink beer) there is no decent toilet to do your peeing in. I could just imagine poor ol’ Manila Bay being defiled even further because all those people who couldn’t be bothered lining up in the portalets had to answer the call of nature by the freakin’ bayside.
Then of course there were all the prostitutes, con artists and people hustling you for alms, sampaguita flowers, and what-nots; who couldn’t even leave you in peace to listen to the music or enjoy your dinner (in tacky disposable styrofoam plates because again, this Baywalk was so environmentally-friendly).
Dimsum decadence at Li Li’s Sunday brunch buffet
Define y-u-m-m-y. Let us count the ways.
At Li Li, the exquisite Cantonese restaurant of the Hyatt Hotel & Casino Manila , yummy is defined in more than 50 different ways, or at least the 50 or more dishes that comprise its Sunday brunch buffet.
Though gourmands have been flocking to the hotel’s weekend food offering for some time now, it was only recently that I got to try. The excellent thing is that there were no chafing dishes now commonly associated with the word ‘buffet,’ the food is freshly prepared in the kitchen as you tick what you’d like on the long dimsum menu. Coming with an almost empty stomach is most recommended.
Of course it helps that you get to enjoy the food in a setting that makes you feel you’re in an imperial court – from the plush chairs, the delicate tableware to the Chinese artifacts and objets d’art on display.
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
