i was chatting with a friend yesterday and he suddenly typed: MKNS. WTF.
i was like: ANOOOO???
he replied: mahal ko na siya. what the f*ck.
for the life of me, i couldn't imagine that we live in the same era. obviously, we are of different generations. it's kinda hard to admit, but i'm beginning to feel the generation gap in these days of shortcut, reply-as-you-receive communication.
then when i was on my way home last night, he texted: la xng reply s txts k. wth...
'di ba 160 characters naman ang available sa isang text page????!!!!!! wtf.
:)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
at a rally in sweden...
vince sent me this. the rally was held in opposition to the gaza bombings.
(sorry, no source for attribution.)
Sunday, January 18, 2009
watch the "Thank You Girls" at robinson's galleria indiesine!!!
THE THANK YOU GIRLS (TYG), the really wacky, funny film about the lives,
loves, trials and tribulations of a group of gay beauty pageant
contestants, will be shown at robinson's galleria indiesine starting JANUARY 21 and will be running for a week.
the film is directed by charliebebs gohetia, who wrote 'daybreak' and
who has been nominated at the Asian Film Awards, Young Critics Circle
and Gawad Urian for the work he has done for the award-winning films
'tirador' and 'foster child'. TYG is his first full-length film, which was also the official Philippine entry to the Vancouver International Film Festival late last year.
go watch the film and you'll come out knowing how "darkness" is defined... and so much more. char.
Friday, January 16, 2009
MMDA 136: irresponsible hotline
last january 14, my brother, bullet, texted me that he couldn't find our car, old, rusty, trusted "big boy", where he last parked it near park 9 alley in katipunan. fearing the worst, especially dad's wrath, i rushed to where he was to help him look for the missing car.
naturally, my first thought was that it had been towed. he had left the car unattended for hours, and the MMDA or the police could have considered the car abandoned. but the scariest thought was that it had been carnapped. (big boy is a 97 daewoo espero. the idea of it being carnapped couldn't be foremost in our minds, but still a possibility.)
along the way, i saw some MMDA traffic personnel and asked them if there was any report made about a car being towed along katipunan on that day. they had only started their shift so they told me to call the MMDA hotline, 136, to inquire. they assured me that if it was the MMDA who had towed the vehicle (if it was towed), then 136 operators would have that information.
i immediately dialed 136 on my cellphone and got to talk to a male operator named "Reyes." i told him about the missing vehicle, the make of the car and the plate number, and the location where it was parked. it took him around five minutes to tell me, "Ma'am, wala pong report dito. Derecho na kayo sa Karingal. Carnapped na yun." of course, i was scared that he was telling me the truth. so i verified with him and repeated my narration, and he confirmed that (1) there was no report, and (2) i should go to Karingal to report the carnapping. he even sounded annoyed that he had to repeat what he had just said.
i fetched my brothers and told them about the phone conversation. bullet looked very scared, niccolo couldn't believe it. so niccolo told me to drive around the area for a while, just to take a look around, and we could drop by the barangay hall to make sure that there was no report made.
when we got to the barangay hall, the men on duty told us that (1) yes, they had witnessed that the car was towed by the MMDA, and (2) they listed the information on the vehicle and the towing company because they saw that the MMDA didn't even leave a note about the towing. thank God for local government employees who still know what to do!!!
so i again called 136 and asked if there was a report made. again, the reply was "No." no towing, no report, they were sure, go to Karingal. then i told them that i was actually at the barangay hall and they had seen the towing, and that they were sure that it was the MMDA who had towed the car. the operator became silent, and then told me to hold. after holding for around 5 minutes, the operator "Delia" got back to me and told me that they really had no report about the towing, but if i wanted to check, i could go to their impounding area and look for our car.
whoa... they weren't sure about the towing but i could go LOOK for my car??? what do they think, they can just tow cars without leaving a note, and then tell you to just go and look for it on your own???
i swallowed all my anger and calmly told "Delia": "ate, nawawala yung kotse namin. tinow nyo daw. may record sila ng plate number nung nag-tow, eto, ibibigay ko sa yo. ATP Towing Service, MMDA Ultra I No.MM2017 MMD, plate number TTK535. Abogado ako. Hanapin nyo po yung kotse, sabihin nyo sa kin kung nasaang lupalop ng kung saang impounding area nyo yan, at tatawag po ako uli. salamat."
i called after 15 minutes, and was told by "Delia" to call again because they were tracing the records of all their towing services. oh.my.friggin.gosh. but i had to be calm and collected. our CAR was still missing.
after another 10 minutes, i called. "Delia" happily told me that they had a positive report that matched the make & number of our car. but she still couldn't trace where the car was brought by the towing service. she said i could try going to their rosario or ultra impounding areas. i again told her that i couldn't afford to drive to somewhere without being sure. so i told her to please complete all information and that the next time i called, i hoped i would already know where to redeem our car.
so after another 15 minutes of twiddling our thumbs and hoping for clarity and knowledge and wisdom for all those MMDA personnel, i called "Delia" and was finally informed that big boy was at the impounding area near ULTRA in pasig. i breathed a sigh of relief, and thanked her for the information.
i couldn't believe what would have happened had i gone straight to karingal to report a carnapping. i dread to think about the repercussions that could have happened, considering our network and connections... considering me and the kind of noise i can make, responsibly or not. luck was actually on their side when i couldn't get a hold of any of my policemen or city hall friends. or not.
but we had a car to fetch, so off to pasig we went. what happened at the impounding area is another horrifying story.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
a family tragedy
Doctor slain in murder-suicide at medical office
Police say an 80-year-old patient shot the physician before shooting himself
Steve Marcus
Metro investigators go through a vehicle outside a doctor’s office on West Charleston Boulevard after Dr. Edna Makabenta was killed by a patient in an apparent murder-suicide at the office Monday.
Published Mon, Jan 12, 2009 (11 a.m.)
Updated Mon, Jan 12, 2009 (6 p.m.)
Dr. Edna Almaden Makabenta
Two people are dead, one of them a physician planning her retirement, after a murder-suicide at a medical office Monday morning in the central Las Vegas Valley, Metro Police said.
Police arrived at about 9:26 a.m. to the one-story, white stucco medical office at 2511 W. Charleston Blvd. to find two people dead in an examination room, Metro Police spokesman Officer Bill Cassell said. That location is just west of Charleston Boulevard's intersection with Rancho Drive.
Dr. Edna Almaden Makabenta, 49, specialized in internal medicine, according to the Nevada State Medical Examiners Board.
The gunman, who was a patient of Makabenta, was identified by police as Eliseo Santos, 80, of Las Vegas. Police said Santos shot Makabenta, then turned the gun on himself.
Police have no motive in the shooting.
A preliminary police investigation revealed that Santos entered Makabenta's office and requested to see the doctor. Santos was directed to an examination room, then took out a handgun and shot Makabenta once in the head, police said.
Santos subsequently shot himself in the mouth and was pronounced dead a short time later at a local hospital, police said.
Santos also was a patient of Henfel Baria, who owns the West Charleston Pain Center next door at 2525 W. Charleston Blvd.
Baria said he knew both Makabenta and Santos, who also was a patient at the pain clinic. Santos had missed several appointments at the pain clinic, Baria said. Baria said he and Makabenta both opened their clinics in 1997.
Baria said he went into Makabenta's clinic after hearing shots fired and heard her assistant yelling. He then saw Makabenta in the exam room.
"I saw Dr. Makabenta lifeless and the patient lying, still moving a little, but there was blood on his head," Baria said.
Baria said Santos was Makabenta's first patient of the day.
Baria said the shooting gave him pause about safety in medical offices. "It's very scary," he said. "How are we going to ensure safety?"
Former patient Deborah Jamerson stood on the sidewalk behind yellow police crime scene tape and cried, sometimes bending over in grief.
"People loved her," Jamerson said. "I don't know about the other guy."
Jamerson said Makabenta had treated her after a vehicle crash. She said Makabenta spent time talking to and comforting her patients.
"I'm just so sorry for her family," Jamerson said.
Police vehicles blocked the right eastbound lane of Charleston Boulevard between Rancho Drive and Shetland Road as crime scene investigators processed the doctor's examining room and offices.
"God knows, it was just her time," Jamerson said. "This is unbelievable. A new year and she didn't even get through it."
Makabenta came to Las Vegas in 1992, said Louis Ling, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Board of Examiners.
She was born July 8, 1959, in Tacloban City in the Philippines. She received her medical degree in the Philippines in 1984, Ling said.
From 1992 until June 1995, Makabenta worked at University Medical Center to complete her state-side residency requirements, Ling said. She passed her exams for licensure and received her license on Sept. 7, 1995.
She was board-certified in internal medicine in November 1997. Makabenta has been in good standing with the medical board, Ling said.
"There's no way to make sense of this," Ling said of the shooting death. "There's lots of questions, but no answers."
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ate edna is my cousin on my dad's side.
i can't really remember when was the last time i saw her, but after raissa told me about the tragedy, i suddenly remembered that when i went to the US last 2007, daddy gave me ate edna's calling card just in case i find myself in vegas. (dad knows how i maximize my travels, planned and unplanned.) but i didn't make it to vegas because we couldn't squeeze it in even if i really wanted.
this news is very shocking and really, really, really sad for the family, especially for my daddy who is quite close to their family. tito jorge, ate edna's dad, is one of his closest cousins on the almaden side.
my deepest condolences to tito jorge and the whole almaden and makabenta families.
rest in peace, ate edna.
Friday, January 9, 2009
"new" friends
it amazes me how you can be friends with a lot of people for years, yet not really get to hang out with them or pursue deeper, more meaningful connections with them after some time.
such is my case with at least two people whom i have just recently spent a lot of time and serious, honest-to-goodness bonding moments with.
thank God for friends who get relegated to the sidelines but stay there nevertheless. fading away just doesn't come into play when souls, minds, and shared experiences collide.
cheers to us, burdened but happy complicated souls!
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