“THE GREAT PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE” #atozchallenge2014

NOTE: Ugh. I thought I scheduled this properly for the A-to-Z Challenge. Sorry…

 

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Megan Young, Miss World 2013

Lately, the Philippines has been getting positive attention, what with Filipinas currently dominating international beauty pageants. Several artists of Filipino blood, especially YouTube sensations that Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey got to have as guests in their shows, have somehow let the world know (well, those who got to watch, at least) that we are a race of generally good singers. Our white-sand beach, Boracay, has been consistently considered as one of the top beaches in the world. (See vids. First is singer Charice‘s as introduced to the world in “The Ellen Degeneres Show.” Second is a show featuring Boracay called “Ang Pinaka” [“The Most]”. You’ll understand most of it due to the visuals and alternating Filipino-English dialogues/narration)

And then just last year, the world witnessed how a tragedy that hit the country brought out the best in my fellowmen/women, with the spirit of what we call bayanihan (read as “buy-uh-nee-hun”) or communal unity alive and our propensity to still be able to smile despite the circumstances. I’d like to think that aside from or instead of the word coming from bayan, which means town or community, the root word is actually bayani, meaning hero.

People from all walks of life gave donations and helped pack, sometimes even deliver, relief goods to the many Filipinos affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda last year

Still, these are not enough to erase the various stigmas that have been associated with our race. However, I would rather not think of the negatives, but of the positives. Much of the negatives have been borne out of racism, stereotyping and, in the recent case of people who claimed to be well-informed food  bloggers (yet they seemed too uninformed, misinformed and unprofessional-slash-unethical writers), utter clueless-ness.

I believe that I live in a GREAT nation that has the capacity to become GREATER, to rise from the ashes when Life has beaten us down time and again.

I want you to know more about my country. No, it is not to sugar-coat the negatives, rather to emphasize the positives. So let me share to you my article The Great Philippine Experience (to get there, please click on the title). I will hope that after reading, you’ll at least have a better impression of my country and my people. 🙂

 

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Did you like what you read and/or saw? If yes, then I’m happy. Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment below.

This post is a part of the …

 

Read at Your Own Risk

Weeks ago, I decided to join a book review group, the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die. Of course, this is a chance to share my thoughts, plus it’s really to force me to make reading a habit again and to force me more to practice what I ought to, which is to write, write, write! It’s a case of hitting three birds with one stone 😉

So, how coincidental that my first review was that of The Color Purple, and who should make it to the news now but the Steven Spielberg-movie version’s stars Oprah Winfrey and Rae Brown Chong. Oprah played Sofia, first wife to Harpo (just try to read that name backwards) and Rae was Squeak/Mary Agnes, second wife)? So coincidental, too, that in a sort of way, the issue they are facing now sort of reflects an aspect of the story. Ironic, actually, that the latter should make racist comments against another belonging to the same race.

Anyway, if you want to have an idea of what the story is about, you can find my review here:

THE COLOR PURPLE

This is my first review at the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die

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Please LIKE if you indeed like it. But regardless of whether you do or not, just read it anyway and the other reviews. Then read the actual books, or submit your own reviews even 🙂

Any constructive comments? Feel free to message me here…ENJOY!!!