bye bye ads

February 23rd, 2008 | Perze Ababa | No Comments

The ads were really getting annoying. It was a very interesting experiment for what it’s worth. But I have to say goodbye. There have been vehement protests when I started putting them up on this website. I’m thinking of creating another project where I would be able to maximize impact of online ads. In the three weeks that I’ve put this up, I was able to earn roughly $0.30, thats around 10 cents a week. I get more money picking up loose change in the streets of New York City on my way to work.

It was good while it lasted. Bye Ads, time to move on.

stupid snow

February 22nd, 2008 | Perze Ababa | 1 Comment

it took me 2 hours to get to work today. I decided to leave early so I would miss the deluge of commuters; surprise, surprise, everything else was slow today. I was supposed to get to the train station at 7:15 we got there at 8, but then the 7:40 train was delayed so I took that and we are just approaching penn station.

there’s supposed to be 4 inches snow here in the city, that means another ugly walk to work. oh well at least I get to spend the weekend introducing myself to the latest member of our family.

steph gave birth last night, no complications from what I hear. thank you for all your prayers.

The Hongs Brother is on the way!

February 21st, 2008 | Perze Ababa | No Comments

I got news from Marchesa that Stephanie’s water just broke. Please pray for hers and the baby’s safety. More updates to follow.

Valentines ‘08 Slideshow

February 19th, 2008 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

becoming jane

February 19th, 2008 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane

anne hathaway bored me, being supposedly the heroine, and representing jane austen. she’s pretty, sure, but her accent was unconvincing, and she just didn’t seem to transcend to the story’s time. i also thought a lot of the story tried TOO hard to embody Jane’s Pride and Prejudice, but failing horribly and became a mere boring shadow of austen’s novel.

it just failed to portray what jane austen wrote about…the romance between the two just didn’t seem to deliver the restraint, and passion. the direction wasn’t convincing, and anne hathaway just didn’t convey it well. she lacked the complexity of her character and probably the maturity.

i really wanted to like this movie…but it was a disappointment. go see Jane Austen Book Club instead- or the other movies based on austen’s novels. This one lacked the bite.

The Jane Austen Book Club

February 19th, 2008 | Marchesa Ababa | No Comments

The Jane Austen Book Club

The Jane Austen Book Club

i honestly recommend this movie to those who’ve read 4/6 of jane austen’s books, because you’ll recognize the witticism of the writing and subtle plot lines with your familiarity w/ jane novels. but if you haven’t, you should still give the movie a try because the dramas of different love stories try to be representations of the austen themes, giving you a good explanation that austen-ism isn’t completely dead after all. the complications of love transcends time and culture.

what i liked about this movie was the dialogue of austen’s novels between different perspectives and experiences, and not just a historic scholarly perspective, but more relatable and personal. it was fun to hear the dialogue about austen’s brilliant characters, and guessing which woman represented each of austen’s heroines.

The movie was subtle, but dynamic. It worked because of all the subplots culminating into one commonality- jane austen.

iValentines 2008

February 19th, 2008 | Marchesa Ababa | 2 Comments
our valentines was nice. i’ll work backwards.

like the past years, we attended sjbci’s valentine’s dinner.  this year was different since it was more family oriented instead of just exclusively for couples. 

the food was ok, and it seems that with each year, the dancing portion of the night gets longer and longer, which is nice cuz you get to dance and mingle.  it just gets a little too familiar since the line dancing is a bit too overplayed in EVERY filipino party.  once they’ve played a song more than twice, you know there has to be more, and once they’ve played more than 8 ballroom dances, the steps get too rehearsed.  it becomes a showcase of practiced moves.  so i found it refreshing when em lead perze and i to the dance floor during the todo todo and we made up our own steps cuz perze didn’t know how to follow the formula.

don’t get me wrong, i enjoy watching skilled dancers so no offense, but when every move is by the book and too rehearsed, and when there’s just too much of one thing, i appreciate the change…like longwinded showcased karaoke- same thing. even i don’t like to hear myself sing more than 4 songs consecutively.  it would be different if you were at a concert…

but nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves mainly because this was the first year we took our daughter.  she really indulged in the festivities- taking turns to dance w/ perze and i, running around with the kids, and getting all dressed up w/ killer polkadots.

everyone looked GREAT by the way- the adults included!  i wished they took pictures of everyone who went so i can showcase the scandalous dresses…

i wore vintage donna karan.  tried to bring the hot pink back.  the question of the night was when perze and i would have our second child.  we both got that question about 10x.  it was nice to get dressed up.  one of the youth said i didn’t look like a mom at all, and one of the adults said i was "stunning."  the dress got a lot of compliments, old and young alike.  but no one got more votes than emma.  she was the mix between perze’s pink and mine.

and if you’re wondering how much my shoes were (which some girls had asked), they were $12. i think emma’s shoes cost more.

(i know…i plugged fashion in the blog. i’m sorry….)

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                  flash-on-iphone

the actual valentines day, perze had work…

we agreed that i’d pick him up so when i got to where he was, he surprised me with a Sephora Bag.  to my delight, i still opposed to the present because we already had willingly agreed that we wouldn’t spend on valentines this year.  but knowing my husband, agreements including gifts are usually broken…and i’m really honestly not one for expensive gifts, but he refused to accept any rejection w/ this iGift.

yes. i am a proud owner of the iPhone.  initially, i was hesitant since i’m not entirely keen on phones, but the more i held the device, the more i realize the wonders it can do for someone like me- someone who loves to archive and write, and read, and organize.  someone who is heavily into audio and visual media, someone who constantly needs to keep dates and reminders for our family and emma, the church events, and youth, as well as my own personal media projects for other people who asks for my help. and someone who is very internet saavy.

the interface is not just eyecandy, it’s iBuffet, with its generous widgets, and smart technology that really equals in its efficiency as much as aesthetically.

i really have to thank my husband…it’s all his idea…and i’m humbled because it’s one of the first things he bought because of his deserved promotion.

so my question is, does anyone need my treo? ;)

thank you mahal.  not just for the gift (although you always seem to surprise me), but because i know i don’t need gifts like this to know your love for our family. elephant shoes mahal, size gigantic.