Freddie and Manny

For days, I have marveled about how impeccable and masterful Filipino pugilist Manny Pacquiao performed in his recent fight with living legend Oscar de la Hoya. To this day, I couldn't stop admiring the boxing phenomenon who now ranks among the highest in my list of boxing greats.

It was more than a month ago that I remember writing about Pacquiao's inspirational journey towards pound-for-pound excellence. It's a belief I held then and that which has been affirmed now, that no matter who Manny chooses to fight or that even if the odds are against him, Manny is always bound to win. The reasons for his winning could be enumerated. It could be his speed, it could be his extraordinary strength or his improved boxing skills. But none of those weigh as much significance as the fire in his heart, for it is his heart that makes the difference.

In all of Manny's successes too, it is not easy to discount the discipline that his trainer imposed on him. Freddie Roach masterfully crafted Manny's abilities like that of a jeweler honing a diamond. He created a masterpiece in Pacquiao, capable of defeating quality fighters and improving at virtually every game he's on. In Manny and Freddie, there's not only a right amount of fighter-trainer relationship, there's also a little of a father-son connection between the two. They seem to genuinely have trust and respect for each other which have helped boost Manny's confidence in his fights.

I admire Freddie as much as I admire Manny. Having read a little of Freddie's biography, I can't help but see Manny's story in him too, only he's a white guy. The talented trainer grew up into a family of boxers since his father was once an accomplished fighter. As a pugilist, Freddie boxed like there was no tomorrow. He gave it all, winning some, losing some. He ate punches to give some back. But success as a boxer seemed to have evaded him. At age 26, he retired early from boxing. He did a few things that moved away from pugilism, until the chance to work as an assistant trainer to legendary Eddie Futch came. And since then, Freddie though troubled by Parkinson's disease, has found his true calling. He finally knew what he was good at doing, somehow better than he could ever be as a boxer: that was being a trainer.

This year, Freddie received a well-deserved award as Trainer of the Year from Yahoo! Sports. Thanks to a very impressive year of wins for Manny Pacquiao which could not have been possible without his unyielding support, trust and hardwork.

Freddie's story is truly an inspiring one. He fell but got back on his knees. He's proved that whatever battle lost, it doesn't equate surrender. And that's why he and Manny make a great combination because in them we see humans being hurt but capable of bouncing back. They might be beaten up but they choose to stand firm and carry their pride and their heart to face the challenge. For that, Freddie and Manny are my modern-day heroes.

Personality Test

Did this personality test on humanmetrics.com and found out that I've got an INFJ type of personality.

Introverted	Intuitive	Feeling	Judging
Strength of the preferences %
44	12	25	67

Qualitative analysis of your type formula
You are:

• moderately expressed introvert
  
• slightly expressed intuitive personality
  
• moderately expressed feeling personality
  
• distinctively expressed judging personality

Here's an explanation from keirsey.com:


Idealist Portrait of the Counselor (INFJ)

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people's feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.

Mohandas Gandhi, Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Goodall, Emily Bronte, Sir Alec Guiness, Carl Jung, Mary Baker Eddy, Queen Noor are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).

Feel like singing this song...


I Think I'm In Love

Is, this love
Feeling restless inside
Wanting you
To always be my side
I dont even want you out of my side
You are in my thoughts all day and night
I cant get you out of my mind
I think Im in love

Refrain:
I think Im in love
Think Im in love with you
Every single day
Every single night
Every single moment of my life
I want to spend them all with you
I think Im in love
I think Im in love
I think Im in love with you
Tell me that you care
Tell me...please
Tell me that you also feel
The way that I do...

Cant describe
Words are just not enough
Cant explain
It all happened so fast
What exactly am I feeling right now
If this is love I got to know somehow
Just how long this madness will last
cause I think Im in love

I think Im in love
Think Im in love with you
Every single day
Every single night
Every single moment of my life
I want to spend them all with you
I think Im in love
I think Im in love
I think Im in love with you
Tell me that you care
Tell me...please
Tell me that you also feel
The way that I do...

yep, another set of taaz edited pictures... wow, bongga dv?!

i've always wondered how i'd look like sporting different hairstyles. now i know. thanks to taaz.com:

super short hair



with bangs (erm, parang baby tsina! haha!)



long curly hair (pwede)




big, long and curly (nyeks!)

The Heart of a Warrior

For the longest time, I've closely followed Manny Pacquiao's quest for pound-for-pound excellence. In every bout, he never failed to deliver. I was once a skeptic of the Pacman and his boxing skills. In his earlier days as a professional boxer, I didn't really think he would elevate himself from where he was then to where he is now. In fact, whenever my dad and brother watched his fight I often chose not to watch.

All that changed after I saw Manny demolish Thai boxer Chatchai Sasakul in a fight I never thought he even had a chance to win. He was clearly beat up in the entire bout until a killer of a punch knocked out the poor Thai. Since then, I became a believer. Sure, he had a few ups and downs that I almost thought ended his career. But the man clearly had something back then that promised a brilliant future ahead of him.

Manny’s success didn’t come easy. He came from a poor family in General Santos City and did menial jobs to help support the family. Though he didn’t pursue his studies due to poverty, he was smart enough to know what he was truly good at. Boxing became his pleasure. He utilized his potential by honing his skills. And so he continued on with his dream of making a living out of boxing. Nothing was impossible for a man determined to chase his dreams. In one interview of Pacquiao, he narrated how he would put metal in his pockets to add a few pounds to his weight because he was underweight and that he cheated his age just so he could fight. Manny won nearly all his bouts and in destructive fashion. A few international fights have made him a household name among Filipinos. He held belts in two different weight divisions. It seemed as if he had it already big until things got a lot "bigger".

In 2001, Manny was chosen as a last minute replacement for the undercard of the Oscar Dela Hoya-Javier Castillejo bout. He fought Lehlohonolo Ledwaba and stopped the South African boxer in the 6th round. He fought a few more matches to defend his super bantamweight title until the chance to fight the great Marco Antonio Barrera came and the rest as they say is history.

Manny’s a gem of a talent who was waiting for his moment to shine. Trainer Freddie Roach polished Manny’s boxing skills, refining his once crude style in the ring into a well-rounded one. Pacquiao has been famous for his strong left hook that could stagger any unsuspecting victim. He’s likewise wowed critics with his tremendous speed and agility. With every match, his style never ceased to entertain, which made him an exciting fighter to watch.

But amongst all the amazing things he could do inside the ring, it’s his will to win that led him to where he is now. I’ve never seen anyone like him who gives himself entirely for the glory of winning. Manny’s bravery as a fighter is unparalleled. When he plays, he attacks and has no apprehensions. He is a true warrior who is not afraid to fight and take risks. I had doubted his ability to defeat stronger opponents several times before. But each time, he proved my doubts wrong. So if he tries convincing me once again that he can defeat a much bigger, classier opponent and that the odds are not in his favor, I guess I’ll have to believe he can. For as long as he’s got the heart to fight, there’s no way he could lose.

Another Poem

Solution to Sadness

When things get a little depressing,
When life seems to turn
into a mess,
When your loved ones notice you
less and less…

Never allow a space for worry.

Smile.

For in every loneliness,
there is peace.
In each uncertainty,
there is hope.
And in all our absence,
there is His presence.

About Schmidt

This one's an old post. Just feel like posting it again with minor revisions:


I love Jack Nicholson the same way I adore Robert De Niro. They are absolutely the most prolific actors of this time. No questions asked.

It was a thrill certainly that I finally got to see a film that has long been missing in my Nicholson collection. Jack was hilariously irritating in As Good as it Gets, charmingly vicious in The Departed and falsely mad in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Can anything be more interesting than those?

Well, there is one more Jack character that I so love. His portrayal of Warren Schmidt in About Schmidt is for me, his best so far. I was ready for a laugh trip given the first person perspective of the lead character and how his mind thought freely after his retirement from an insurance company in Omaha, Nebraska. Sure, there were funny moments especially when a very "bold" Kathie Bates flirts with Jack in a steaming tub (that was hilarious and I didn't see it coming, Christ's sake!) but I found myself crying towards the climax of the film. I hate myself for being a cry baby. Really, I am. Not too many films have made me weep though. This one did.

I somehow understand Warren's feelings. I felt really sorry for him that his job, his wife and even his daughter (who got married to a man Warren didn't think his daughter deserved) have all perished from his life and that ultimately in a time when he needed to get reassured that he led a good life, no one was there to convince him he did, not even himself. And so all the doubts came haunting him all throughout his journey. One simple yet meaningful drawing from a kid a thousand miles distant made him shed the tears he's been trying to keep for so long.

I guess all of us, at some point in our lives begin to question if we truly succeeded in life, if we made even a minute difference in this big old world we live in. I do get scared looking ahead myself, worrying that the same fate old Warren had trodden would happen to me.

But then, I believe...it's not what you've accomplished that matters in this life. It's how you accomplished all your triumphs and how well you handled your misfortunes and got up from them that truly matter in life. The question is not about what you've become for you could be the most famous actor or politician but it won't equate happiness and contentment. It is how you managed yourself as you earned your successes.

"I know we're all pretty small in the big scheme of things, and I suppose the most you can hope for is to make some kind of difference, but what kind of difference have I made? What in the world is better because of me?"

As Warren asks himself these favorite lines of mine from the film, he does get answered instantly. That no matter how little a good deed is, it does make a difference.

On the next US President

A Victory for the United States

The recent victory of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 United States presidential election has sparked a phenomenon the world has never before seen. Republicans, fellow Democrats and leaders of different countries expressed congratulatory remarks. The bigger chunk of Americans and people of various races the world over articulated support. Though not all voted for him in the recent election, a lot who didn’t now seem to be less hostile and more tolerant in giving the newly-elected president the benefit of the doubt. Surely enough, Senator Obama deserves such for he is a man not only gifted by great intelligence and unparalleled charisma but a man who also has a clear understanding and discernment of the needs of a people separated by differences in race, culture, religion, philosophy and opinion.

It seemed impossible that it would come, but it did and in a big way. Obama’s success is not merely the African-American community’s success. It’s the victory of the United States. One man of diverse cultural background is representing and ultimately uniting a country that has witnessed probably the vastest and most extensive cultural diversity in history.

One thing that is so commendable about Obama’s win is the way the American dream has been brought to light again. Never has such patriotism been so felt in any speech as was delivered by Senator Obama last Tuesday in front of all his supporters when he accepted his victory. He gave a light of hope amidst a crisis that divided and tormented the United States and its people. Obama came to battle the many problems Americans face today, and he didn’t come unprepared for the many challenges. He knows what his countrymen want and has a clear vision of what must be done to solve each problem. With proper execution and a keen sense of what is good for most people, there is no doubt that the Obama administration will lead its way to victory - for the American people.

Maybe

I've always dreamed of finding a partner I will love for the rest of my life and in those long years of searching, I never paused a moment of thinking that maybe I have found the right person or that he's just within my reach but it's still my overly stubborn heart that I keep on following. Maybe I've been wishing for too much from a prospect or that I've been searching for a world too perfect that love had eloped me for so long. I'm happy now that finally, I had mustered the courage to take a leap of faith at experiencing real love. Right now, I believe falling in love is just a few inches away from the long mile I have trudged all this time. Finally, I'm allowing myself to be loved and it's up for me to see how far it'll take me. I have learned to open up my heart and not my eyes alone. For this, I've never been happier.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

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My Papa P

Hindi naman obvious na mahal ko si Piolo, noh?! Ahehe...I love you Piolo!!!!! Waaaaaah!!!!!

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MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

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MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

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MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

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MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Vintage photographs - Geneology

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MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Roots - Ancestors

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MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

I don't know how to describe it. But right this moment, memories of my aunt's cremation this afternoon never seem to escape my thoughts. I wish I didn't see it. I had goosebumps. Just really gives me the creeps. But then, may her soul rest in peace.

You Are 88% Interesting

Believe it or not, you are a very fascinating person. You're probably too busy being interesting to realize exactly how interesting you are. You have a rich, full life. You are curious about the world, and you are very open to new experiences. You have a lot to talk about, and people find you to be an amazing conversationalist. And most importantly, you are truly interested in other people. How could anyone find that boring? You truly listen and learn from others. You're not self absorbed or shallow.

Are You Boring or Interesting?

If there is ever an award given to the friendliest niece in a family reunion, I'd probably get the title. Why not? At least, I get to chat with any one about anything under the sun. Politics, love, health, work, and yes...even celebrity gossips. They all think I know EVERYTHING! It's a tough role that I get to play every family reunion, but I enjoy it. And I love it too that I'm not really a fan of local showbiz but every once in a while I get to act as if I'm a huge enthusiast of our local stars. Not that I don't like them. I'm just not thrilled. I'd rather talk about my own problems than gossip about celebrities who don't have anything to do with me.

Had so much fun with our trip to Capas, Tarlac last Saturday. It's been a long time since I've last seen my relatives there. We're planning to visit Capas again next month. I'm super excited about it.

Me and my brown hair

I used to really get pissed each time I'd hear comments on my hair not being dark like everyone else. Anyways, I've grown to like my natural hair color. At least I don't need to pay just to have my hair dyed because it's colored already. Haha.

It pains to want someone and know that that someone can never be yours. I have always wished and prayed for him. How long should I stay this crazy about someone before I could realize that nothing will ever come of it?

So I should start telling myself to just move on. Essentially, if I would end up with somebody, he should first realize it in his heart how much he needs me. It shouldn't be the other way around.

Thank God there's Youtube! I'm loving every bit of the Eraserheads reunion concert held last Saturday in Taguig. At least, those who were not able to see it live could watch and experience the once in a lifetime concert through video footages that fans have been posting on youtube. So sad that Ely had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering chest pains in the middle of the concert. The last I heard, he underwent another angioplasty procedure, but that he's in stable condition now. Let's all pray for his speedy recovery. He's a rarity in the music industry.

How creative are you?

You Are 78% Creative

You are beyond creative. You are a true artist - even if it's not in the conventional sense of the word. You love creating for its own sake, and you find yourself quite inspired at times.

How Creative Are You?

How happy are you?

You Are 76% Happy

You are a very happy person. Generally, you feel content and that all is right with the world. Occasionally, you have a down day - but you have the ability to pick yourself right back up.

How Happy Are You?

Which planet are you from?

You Are From Jupiter

You are exuberantly curious - and you love to explore newness. Enthusiastic and optimistic, you get a kick out of stimulating intellectual discussions. Foreign cultures and languages fascinate you. You love the outdoors, animals, and freedom. Chances are you tend to exaggerate, so try to keep a lid on that. If you do, you'll continue to be known for your confidence, generosity, and sense of justice.

What Planet Are You From?

Inside the room of your soul

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are very passionate and quite temperamental. While you can be moody, you always crave comfort. You are a very grounded, responsible, and realistic person. People may not want to hear the truth from you, but they're going to get it. You believe that people see you as larger than life and important. While this is true, they also think you're a bit full of yourself. Your near future is likely to be filled with great successes and accomplishments. You just need to figure out how to get there. For you, falling in love has never been easy. You can only fall for someone who is very patient and persistent.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Affairs of the Heart

Why do I feel offended? He didn't even do anything wrong to me. After all the thinking and re-thinking, I've finally reached a point where it doesn't matter to me anymore. I'm not angry, for there is no valid reason to be mad. It was all my presumptuous analysis. I might have been hurt by his very obvious uneasiness being situated in the same place with me, but it's too petty to even deserve contemplation and analysis.

What I have come to realize is that, I will never be happy this way. I cannot for the love of God seek happiness in people who can't give it to me. From now on, I will open my eyes to other opportunities that could offer the happiness I've always desired. And in the affairs of the heart, I shall never again seek what obviously evades me.

Au revoir, monsieur

I want to erase from my thoughts any memory of ever liking him. I'm disgusted by his insensitivity. I've never felt this offended in my life. For me, he doesn't exist anymore. Au revoir, monsieur.

my art works

What a great weekend! I had the pleasure to start drawing all over again. It's a hobby I almost completely lost interest in. Here are a few of my works:

LOVELY

OLD MAN

UNICORN

THE HOURS

MRS. CHAPLIN

THE HAND

KAREN'S FEET