Sunday, April 13, 2008

Itchy???


Photo taken at Pappankappaka. March 29, 2008


”Seven year itch”, that’s what they call it, after you’ve been married for 7 years to the same person. It’s a supposed phenomenon when one’s eye begins to wander outside of marriage. Or when both partners may want to have alone time from each other.

Toni and I celebrated our 7th year anniversary as a couple a few weeks ago. As known to many, we have yet to tie the knot. And yes we have talked about it, and yes I got my diamond engagement ring, and yes, we already bought the wedding bands… from Dubai!!!

So do you think we are affected by the “7 year itch”? I don’t have any idea. None at all. We still bicker the same way, we still argue the same intensity and we still want to be together as much as we can. I’d say we owe it to the fact that even though we share the same circle of friends (well his friends are all my friends first anyway J ), we have some things that we do, that doesn’t involve the other. We can have fun separately, and have much more fun together. Usually a quiet evening watching TV, or eating out, or a night in town, does the trick.

This year, Toni chose the movie to watch and the resto to eat. Funny though, he thought that the movie 10,000 BC will be a gladiator kind of movie. It turned out to be a chick flick! It was ok. I mean the movie wasn’t great, but it is definitely not bad. But not for him, it wasn’t what he expected. The resto we went to was called Hella ja Huone (Stove and Room). I had the fennel soup, veal and shared a chocolate cake with Toni. He had ox tongue for starters and duck for mains. I can’t complain about the quality of the food. It was good. But for the price, it was not at par. Come on, I have spent almost 1/3 of my life working in the restaurant business. I know what I am talking about! I think it’s too pretentious. Too expensive. The place and the food. But our server knows what he’s doing. Which is cool. He’s the one who ran the show. And in Finland, you don’t usually get that good of a service. And the wine was absolutely gorgeous.

But, I know for sure, I will never go back to that place again. Next time, I will choose the movie, and I will choose the resto.

As for the itch, the only thing itching right now is my hand itching to grab for a chocolate cake. Hmmm… J

Friday, April 4, 2008

A man, pregnant???!!!!

Yes folks. Those questions lingering in your heads are the same as whats in my slightly smaller brain.

HOW CAN A MAN BE PREGNANT??? etc, etc.

Actually this title is just to gain attention and media frenzy. I hate to break your hearts, but Thomas Beatie used to be and technically, is still a FEMALE. Though legally a MALE. So on this blog, I will refer to Thomas as "he"/"him".

He grew up in Hawaii as a female but had a surgery (breast reduction) done. He said in one article though, that his reproduction organs are still in tact. And has since taken tostesterones, gotten married and dreamt of having a baby. After finding out that his wife Nancy, could not bear children any longer (she's got two kids from prior marriage), Thomas opted to take on the responsibility of carrying the baby in his normal functioning reproductive system via artificial insemination.

This wasn't a walk in the park mind you. They were turned down by a couple of doctors before they found someone who would accomodate them. And the first pregnancy had to be aborted for it was ectopic, and could have taken his life.

One thing that's bothersome and is the question behind all these frenzy, is that he has been known to be a MAN most of his adult life, that people, friends and acquaintances of the couple doesn't even know about his past. So they think that this is just a hoax or somekind of a nasty joke, or a "miracle" (and I mean biblical miracle here).

If I put my two cents here, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Yeah sure, in some states, its acceptable for two females or two males to get married, not to mention acceptance of the alternatives. Lets get past that, Conservatives and Moralist! And once you have looked beyond the physical attributes of Thomas, the fact still remains that he is just a woman whose finally pregnant.

Thumbs-up goes to their neighbors in Oregon, who refused to comment out of respest for this couple and their kids. Although the couple already guested on Oprah and even welcomed the people into their home, they still deserve privacy, as they are afterall private people.

Transgender aside, I salute Thomas' stand on bringing a child into this world, natural way or not. Motherhood, well, in his case Mother/Fatherhood, is a gift from God.

We may have a moral obligation towards same sex marriage, but hey, who are we to condemn a woman just because of practicing her right to bear a child?




for extra read:
http://advocate.com/issue_story.asp?id=52664&page=1

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Malu-bye



Like most Filipinos, I am also engrossed in the reality TV shows. And recently I’ve been glued to my television set waiting religiously for American Idol. Well, not me, but my digibox recorder. AI unfortunately is telecast here in Finland delayed by 2 weeks. So basically I’ve already seen it on youtube.com before it hits the Finnish televisions.

And today, I was heartbroken to have found out that our Fil-Am bet was eliminated. Yes friends, I admit, I shed some tears upon learning this. A few seasons ago, there was also a Fil-Am competitor Jasmine Trias, who eventhough didn’t win the title, went on to making albums of her own. But the impact with Ramielle Malubay’s elimination was great on me, maybe because she looks more Filipina than Jasmine, and because this time, I have access to AI 24/7, time zone aside.

If there was something I could do to make her win, I will definitely have done that. And I have sent a couple of emails to my US based friends campaigning for this girl. It was just not enough. I am certain that she was not the worst singer in the competition. May not be the best either. But she was definitely good.

Oh well, she will be on AI tour anyway. Who knows, she might make her own albums too. I’m just glad my other favorites are still in. Cook and Brooke.