Preserving culture

Can culture be preserved?

Is culture really lost or does it just constantly evolve?

My professor asked the class these questions before we went to see the Sarsuela exhibit in UP Diliman’s Vargas Museum.

While walking around, my eyes kept drifting towards the food table. Partly because I was hungry and partly because I was thinking about Filipino culture. Seriously.

There was a woman preparing puto-bumbong at the table and it got me thinking about how the tradition of the Filipino kakanin has persisted throughout the years. There aren’t as many kakanin stalls in markets these days but a lot of commercialized versions, especially of the bibingka, have appeared. I often try out these commercial kakanin out of curiosity but most of the time I am disappointed.

Some of my favorite merienda as a child were sapin-sapin, bibingka, puto, puto-bumbong, pichi-pichi and biko. I long for the taste of my childhood. Have I set my standards too high? Has it been so long that I have forgotten what my favorite snacks really tasted like? Or do modern kakanin really pale in comparison to the ones from a decade ago?

The kakanin did not disappear, it evolved. Now I’m confused. If culture isn’t lost through evolution, why do I feel like there’s something missing in my new kakanin? But if the culture from before is different from the culture of today, what would be left of my kakanin ten years from now?

Scientifically speaking, they say evolution gets rid of the unnecessary. Parts of an organism that are useless or hindrances are gradually eliminated. Is it the same for cultures? If so, who decides which part of the culture is unnecessary? How is it decided?

If moving forward means leaving something behind, how do we decide what to hold on to and what to let go?

How to lose a guy…

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and, surprisingly, a lot of couples are breaking up. Despite the multitude of quotes poking fun at the singles during this season, couples actually feel more pressure. Believe it or not, most of the time, it’s the girl’s fault. Girls tend to expect too much and forget what really matters. Seriously, Kate Hudson has nothing on real life girls when it comes to making guys jump through hoops.

Here’s a list of things girlfriends do that drive guys away:

1. Not talk

Yes, everyone hates naggers. Yes, no one wants to be told what they’ve done wrong. But if you’ve decided to hold it against your boyfriend anyway, then tell him about it so he can do something to fix it. Shutting up and nursing your bitterness while listening to “I Hate This Part” or “If I Were A Boy” will not help. It would just frustrate him and you’d only get hurt even more when he gets fed up.

2. Say he doesn’t love you anymore

He didn’t call. He forgot your weeksary, monthsary, anniversary or some other -sary you’ve invented to celebrate your being together. He canceled three dates in a row. Whatever it is he has done, it does not mean he doesn’t love you anymore. You can tell him you feel neglected but jumping to “you don’t love me” hurts him more than you think. Whenever you feel like he has changed or that he doesn’t care about you as much as he used to, stop. Try to remember all the things he has done so far. Don’t disregard everything just because he forgot something. It’s like lecturing your son for getting a 79 in a subject even though he got a 97 in all other subjects. Step back and look at the bigger picture. Will you really throw him out for missing one or two days when he has spent a hundred days with you? While you’re at it, think about what you have done for him lately and reflect if you’ve really done enough.

3. Not trust him

Is he hanging out with his female co-worker too much? Is he texting someone you don’t know? It’s your decision. Do you trust him or not? If you decide that you do, stop thinking about things you don’t want to happen. If you decide that you don’t, then break up with him already. None of that “I love him too much” crap. Either you trust him or you don’t, love’s got nothing to do with it. Period.

4. Make him suffer for your previous heartaches

You just got out of a very bad relationship. He caught you while you were falling and he knows you have excess baggage. He says he understands. He won’t be understanding forever if you keep saying you still have feelings for the last guy. If you’ve decided to move on, then move on. Once you’ve decided to commit to someone else, commit 1000%. Stop dragging your past around and expect everyone to accommodate poor little you. Getting really really hurt in the past doesn’t give you the license to torture the next guy (or yourself, for that matter). Even if he says he’s willing to wait, don’t make him wait long. After all, you expect him to commit to you while you’re licking your wounds, right? Stop feeling sorry for yourself and be happy.

5. Blame him for something you did

Your friends doesn’t like him. You choose him over your friends and later on, you find yourself lonely. It’s not his fault. You have a head, you can use it. If it was your decision, bear the consequences. Don’t make lame excuses just because you did something you regret.

6. Make ridiculous demands

Your birthday is coming up and you want to go out and celebrate but he has work. He tells you he’ll make it up to you the next day and you tell him to forget about it, it’s pointless because it’s not your birthday anymore. So he skips work to celebrate with you but you act all sad anyway since he didn’t agree right off the bat. You don’t even consider that he pays for all your dates together and he gets that money from the job that he had to skip just so you wouldn’t hate him.

If you have a boyfriend, keep in mind that when you agreed to be with him, you entered the relationship together. The biggest mistake a girl makes is when she acts like her boyfriend needs to keep proving to her that he loves her. It doesn’t work that way. Keeping a relationship needs constant work from both sides. It needs trust, understanding and a bit of tolerance for pain. Without these, all the chocolates, roses and red letters in the world mean nothing.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Colonial Colonial

Just got back from my field trip. I just remembered I said I’d be posting again and since we were with a group of Americans, I’ll be writing about colonial mentality.

Filipinos have to be the most self-criticizing people in the world. Not that I have a lot of experience when it comes to how people think of themselves in other parts of the world.

Moving on…

It has always pissed me off how Filipinos accept faults so easily. One of these faults is the so-called colonial mentality. What does that really mean, anyway?

If you speak English, you’re betraying your native tongue? If you like Chanel or Prada you’re a wannabe?

If there’s anything colonial about Filipinos it’s their idea of colonial mentality. How come when we like something foreign we’re colonial but when foreigners like our products we say nothing? What, they’re the only ones capable of truly appreciating anything not native to them? It’s like saying Filipinos are so stupid they can’t even figure out what they really like and any ideas they might have that’s not related to farming has just been implanted in their minds.

More than that, I hate those people who think they’re being good Filipinos when they accept every single negative thing that’s said about the country.

“We Filipinos are corrupt.”

“We Filipinos are colonial.”

“We’re a bunch of crabs.”

I’m sick of it.

I remember an interview with that girl who squealed about that nursing exam leakage.

“Culture na kasi natin ang cheating eh.”

Culture-in mo mukha mo!

How dare she say that just because she knows a bunch of Filipino cheaters?

She didn’t even consider the thousands of others who took the nursing exam who didn’t cheat. Just because she knew there were cheaters and they were Filipinos, cheating is suddenly part of Filipino culture.

It’s the same with that stupid Philippines is most corrupt survey. A lot of people just nodded and said “mga Pinoy talaga”. Aren’t THEY Filipinos as well?

Those damned airheads should’ve been insulted. It’s a freakin’ survey!

All people ever do is complain about the Philippines. So what if it’s corrupt? So what if it’s dirty? So what if people cheat during exams? You think you’re better Filipinos because you agree that THAT is our culture? You think you’re above all those crocs just because you’ll readily admit your own people’s faults?

If the Philippines is so bad and you know all about it, why don’t you do something about it? If you can’t or won’t do anything about it then just shut the fuck up or get out and find another country!

WE-DONT-NEED-YOU-HERE!

Law Aptitude Exam

Congratulations to my sister for passing UP’s Law Aptitude Exam!

Now, if only we could afford it..

I was going to post something long and profound about something else today but then I suddenly forgot what it was..

I went ahead and told my mother how my sister passed the LAE and got a..disappointing reaction.. I guess her worries about money are valid since she’s raising us by herself but.. well… oh well..

good night blog..

Back from the dead

Here goes..

Summer internship frenzy has forced me to dust off my blog and practice writing again. It’s been a while and a lot of the stuff I was supposed to post has disappeared. Dang..

Anyway, for the sake of writing something, I will write about my latest 2D crush: Kanji Tatsumi. He’s the brute type in Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4. I would write more about P4 but I’m sure a lot of other people have said more than enough on this already.

Now, what about Kanji Tatsumi? Well, as usual, I’m here to complain. Bear with it. I was looking for some pictures of him online and I noticed he only has one or two floating around, the rest are either group pictures that include him (with him pushed all the way to the background) or re-sized versions of his previous pictures.

No, I’m not complaining about his lack of pictures. I’m complaining about his lack of fans. Apparently not a lot of people like tough guys who like girly things. On top of that, Kanji has “tendencies” and “doubts” which bring people to question whether he just likes sewing and cute things or he’s actually gay.

What’s wrong with being gay? In the modern world of “verbal hygiene”, a lot would say, “nothing”. But is that really the case?

The game itself, which should be somewhat commended for its message of “acceptance”, shows biases when it comes to homosexuality.

For one, neither Kanji Tatsumi nor Naoto Shirogane (girl who acts like and wants to be a guy) are actual homosexuals. It just so happens that Kanji likes sewing and Naoto likes playing detective. Their “tendencies”, if anything, are for comic relief.

Another point is the difference in how Kanji and Naoto are treated. Kanji is always at the receiving end of gay jokes while Naoto is only teased for being aloof. Is it funnier for a man to want to be like a woman than for a woman to want to be like a man?

Oh well. I guess mainstream gaming really isn’t ready to go “all the way” with homosexuality just yet.

U-nibersidad ng Pilipinas!

That has always been my favorite cheer of UP. Too bad they ditched it.  But then, it’s always good to innovate. There’s no point in holding on to old things if they just don’t work anymore.

On the other hand, UP decided to go back to its roots this year while others were going intergalactic.  Their ingenius theme and spectacular choreography gave them their second title in a row, fifth title overall.

While I agree, probably partially due to loyalty to my own school, that UP won first place in this year’s Cheerdance Competition, I think FEU should be given some credit as well. I saw the top three’s routines and was surprised by the fact that UST beat FEU for second place.

I’m sure UST is disappointed that it failed to reclaim its title, but I’m sure a lot of people were disappointed by their performance.

By far, FEU had the best execution. UP’s pyramids kept sagging on the left side while UST’s routine lacked synchronization.  FEU also had better stunts than UST.  The same pyramids and tosses kept coming up in UST’s routine and if that wasn’t bad enough, they were simple stuff which I’ve already seen in previous years.

I don’t have anything against UST. If anything, I should just be happy UP won. But then, it seems UST had been on the top so many times that the judges were embarrassed to give them anything lower than 2nd place.

Bang~!

Just now.. I finally acknowledged this gaping hole in my chest.. It really doesn’t hurt, you know.. It’s all just…empty..

I know deep inside, it’s ultimately my fault. You did everything you could. It’s just me who keeps depending on you even when I know I shouldn’t.

What am I supposed to do now?

I don’t know, really. Sitting in front of the PC, staring at it blankly, I wonder how my hands continue to move. How do they keep on typing these words?

I’ve been trying to avoid thinking the whole day. Sleeping was out of the question. I’d already gotten a mighty headache from lying down for too long.

For the first time in all these years, you’ve really failed me. It doesn’t hurt. It really doesn’t. But… I don’t really feel anything at all… isn’t this worse than hurting?

I think I’m almost at my limit. I can only take so much, you know. Between my family, my school, my friends, and everything else, you were the one that kept me in one piece. Maybe if I didn’t depend on you so much, your absence wouldn’t be such a big deal. But that’s really more my fault than yours.

It really doesn’t hurt. Not at all. If it did I’d be suicidal right about now. But then, maybe it’s because I’m already dead….

Olympic fever

*sigh*

I’ve had just about enough of all these Olympic news.. All I ever read are controversies..

Isn’t it weird that those Chinese gymnasts suddenly looked too young to be competing AFTER they won gold?

Isn’t it weird that Phelps is suddenly suspected of juicing up AFTER he swept the swimming competitions?

Isn’t it weird that swimming is suddenly such an easy sport to win golds from AFTER someone actually did it?

What was the Olympics for anyway? All it has done this year is bring out the worst in people in terms of sportsmanship.

If those gymnasts were too young, they should have been screened BEFORE they were allowed to compete.

If Phelps was drugged, he should’ve been tested BEFORE he won all those golds.

If having too many categories under swimming makes it easy to win gold, they should have complained about it BEFORE Phelps was allowed to participate in 17 races.

Sheeesh!

I’m still here

Just heard a song I haven’t heard in YEARS: I’m Still Here from Disney’s Treasure Planet.

I guess the song wasn’t much of a hit since I had a hard time finding it. But I love the lyrics. Something I’ve always related to since I’ve always been some kind of rebel. Hmm… Passive-rebel..

I have always believed we shouldn’t JUST do what our parents tell us to do. It’s not that we should disobey them or anything. More of, always use your head because even if you were told to do something, you’re still responsible for that action.

It’s not always about doing what would please other people. When we make decisions we should always think if we can live with the decision we are about to make.

Your dad wants you to be a doctor like him. Can you live with yourself if you become a doctor? Can you live with yourself if you disobey your father?

There’s always a choice, people can’t really force you to do anything. You can live stealing from other people, but can you live with the constant running and the punishment should you get caught? It doesn’t matter if people disagree with your choice. As long as you can live with it, it’s okay. But if you’re the type of person who can’t live without the approval of others, that’s your choice as well.

Living my life for 22 years, I’ve made a lot of decisions I couldn’t live with. So I always ran away, always made excuses. Being free and deciding for myself isn’t as easy as I once thought. I could’ve kept blaming everyone else for making life hard for me. But in the end, it all comes down to the decisions I couldn’t live with.

(hmm.. I hate this entry.. I keep thinking about all the comments my Journalism professors would say about the use of perspective..)

From pleasant surprises to bitter disappointments..

I have recently gotten back in touch with my otaku self after finally giving in to the powers of crunchyroll.  Sure I had been following the latest episodes of Naruto Shippuuden and One Piece, but then watching an episode or two of shonen anime every other week hardly makes me an otaku.  (Side note: I wonder what the English subbers are doing? Spanish subbers seem to always beat them in releasing episodes.. Is it easier to translate Japanese to Spanish than English?)

Anyways, I have picked up three anime series over the weekend I will start off with some good news.  During my first venture into the crunchy world using my sister’s account, I couldn’t make heads or tails of the damned sight and ended up picking whatever was on the recent popular media thingy.  The first anime featured there was Antique Bakery.

I hesitated for a while because I didn’t like the art style I saw in the thumbnail. But then, since I had no idea what to watch, I decided to go for it anyway. I’m glad I did. I watched it until 4am and couldn’t stop laughing out loud even though my siblings were already asleep. This is how shounen ai should be: daring and ridiculously funny! I’m tired of emo bishies chasing each other, naked or otherwise.

Following my luck, I went on to watch Bartender, which was on the related anime list of Antique  Bakery. I assumed it was also shounen ai since they were supposed to be RELATED. I was only slightly diappointed when I saw that it wasn’t shounen ai at all (NOT shounen ai at all, people. But I’m sure fangirls would find shounen ai in any anime as long as there are at least two biologically male characters in it, anyway). Regardless of the lack of gay charm, Bartender was mesmerizing. It’s the most episodic anime I’ve ever seen in my life, yet I don’t really mind at all. It’s not as striking as Antique Bakery but nevertheless a good find.  Whoever directed it is a genius~!

Lastly, having run out of ideas, I decided to watch something I’d seen a lot of people recommend: Nabari no Ou. That was a mistake. I was hoping the adoring masses would lead me to something like Naruto or One Piece, or Prince of Tennis or any other mainstream anime which I would enjoy watching despite it’s sellout nature. Weeellll… The adoring masses sure outdid themselves in picking this one. In itself, Nabari no Ou is a sound anime. Plot, characters, development, are all good. BUT, if you’ve seen Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, Prince of Tennis, Air Gear, and Gravitation before, the damned series is one long deja vu ride… Seriously, can you name a character from Nabari no Ou which you’ve never “seen” before? Even the plot points are cliche. It’s like the ultimate alternate universe crossover written by someone who has seen too many shonen anime and decided he wanted his own one. I’m utterly disappointed…