SON OF ADAM

Action superstar Rudy Fernandez passed away yesterday. He's a good friend of my father through Tito Domeng Deguzman. On our way to Chocolate Hills I had a thought on Tito Rudy- that he might pass away soon upon hearing the story of my father.

When my dad visited him, he and his friend had to leave quickly because they cannot bear looking at him. He was too weak to speak and cannot even swallow his saliva. The nurse would even  put ice chips on his lips to help him. But before my dad left he told Lorna and Rudy that God is always with them.

The day after his recent birthday, Tito Rudy and Lorna attended the birthday of their close friend Tito Domeng. I was asked to sing during that celebration that was hosted by the sister of "Daboy." My second song was "Magsimula Ka" and I dedicated it to Tito Domeng who is a cancer survivor. The host quickly told me to also sing it for Tito Rudy who's battling cancer. And so I did. As I was saying something to Tito Rudy, he gestured "cut" with his fingers on his throat. He thought I was asking him to sing with me. Lorna laughed and slapped Rudy. "Silly" she said. "He's dedicating the song to you." We laughed.

It's good to know that before Tito Rudy passed away he was surrounded by faithful friends (and a number of people who share the same faith like Philip Salvador and Tirso Cruz). I believe before he passed away he accepted Jesus in his heart. Knowing that tells people that even an action superstar needs God on his side.

Tito Rudy, you have impacted the showbiz industry. You will be remembered always!

"Not disabilities at all" is what he replied when asked about his disabilities... It's a heartwarming story of a father and son. Watch it especially when you're down!!!

My personal opinion... Where's the spark? The Magic? The glam? Maybe you'll share the same view.

GMA7'S FIRST NIGHT PERFORMANCE:
Pinoy Idol S01E08 Part1
Uploaded by idolflux
ABC5'S MOVIE NIGHT PERFORMANCE:






Where the heck is Mau Marcelo? Obviously I know the answer since she's a good friend of mine. But she finally speaks up about the seemingly confusing statement of GMA7's "first" Pinoy Idol...

Kapuso snub saddens ‘Idol’ Mau
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:30:00 05/19/2008

PAINFUL. This sums up the feelings of Mau Marcelo, grand winner of ABC 5’s “Philippine Idol.”

In an e-mail, Mau says feels hurt that she’s not being recognized as the country’s first "Idol" by GMA 7, which now holds the local Idol franchise.

“It’s as if all my hard work has been wasted,” she says. “I feel bad for the people who voted for me, who supported me throughout the competition. It’s not fair.”

She recently moved back to her hometown of Lucena in Quezon province, since work in Manila has become rare.

“What’s more painful is that my supporters are wondering what I’m doing now,” she notes. “It saddens me that I can’t give them a definite answer.”

She refuses to think that "Idol" was more a bane than a boon for her music career.

“I’m proud of it. I owe a lot to ‘Philippine Idol.’ That show introduced me to the public. I’d like to think my title is prestigious. It’s not baduy!”

Indeed, don’t count her out just yet.

She’s confident about her place in Idol, and local pop, history even if GMA 7 is billing its new show as the first “Pinoy Idol.”

“‘Philippine Idol’ was a nationwide contest and I was the first winner. Orig ako (I’m the original); I’m the only one with that holds the title,” she asserts.

That title opened doors for her.

A good show

“It gave me an album (Sony-BMG’s “I Shine for You”). It changed my life and my family’s life for the better. I treasure all of these things.”

She’s not resentful, either, that she failed to bring home last year’s “Asian Idol” crown which went to the Singaporean bet.

She relates that her only goal at the time “was to enjoy myself … I just wanted additional exposure and experience. Who knows that contest may lead to an international singing career? I may get discovered!”

She firmly believes “Philippine Idol” was a “good show … it’s just that ABC 5 isn’t as big as GMA 7 or ABS-CBN. That’s why it lost [the franchise].”

She admits that she sometimes feels impatient about the pace of her career. “I just lift everything up to God. But my manager (Sandra Chavez of Artist House) and I have been talking about some new things she’s working out for me.”

(Email: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com)

...the final 2 showdown when he sang more dramatic songs. However, David Cook won the competition giving away strong performances in the entire season of American Idol.


I just had to catch the finale before I see the results night and good thing there was a replay at 1AM in Star World. The glory of the American Idol was intensified when it was held at the Nokia theatre with the theme of a boxing match. The idea was fantastic! Even the famous "Let's get ready to rumble" guy was there!

Both Davids performed very well. But I was more impressed with Archuleta because I felt he gave it all, from the heart. You would feel how overwhelmed he was from the applause and screams of the people. It was like a flood that seems to drown him. It was a magical moment not just for the two guys but I bet for the audience as well.

Of course, Ryan Seacrest was extraordinary. He's simply amazing. He's a hero when it comes to hosting. He could be so rude to Simon and still be sophisticated. Now that's an art.

Halfway in the competition though rumors spread that David Cook was being groomed to win the competition. At least that's what was spreading in Canada according to my sister... Hmmm, if there's any truth in that at least David Cook showed that he is worthy to win this competition.

WELL DONE DAVIDS! YOU DEFEATED YOUR GOLIATHS!

After Patricia Evangelista, who won in 2002, the Philippines did it again! Gian Karlo Rosales Dapul won in the International Public Speaking Competition by the English Speaking Union (ESU) with his speech entitled Fish Mucus and Foot Fungus. There were 57 other students who competed from all parts of the globe.


















Gian with his father.                                                            Patricia Evangelista receiving her award.


Fish Mucus and Foot Fungus
By Gian Karlo Dapul

 When I was in 6th grade, I hated mathematics. You would have, too, if you had my teacher. He would drop huge workbooks on our tables and croak, “30 problems, 50 minutes.” A lot of these problems seemed unsolvable, so we complained: “Sir, there are no answers to these!” But then he’d reply, “To every question there is an answer, to every problem there is a solution.”

Although I’m only 16 years old and an incoming 4th year high school student, I know that my country has more problems than any mathematics book. Strangely enough, the answers to some of our problems are fish mucus and foot fungus. These seemingly improbable items are products of what we call scientific research.

Research turns our guesses into real knowledge, serving as the sifting pan of our hypotheses. It challenges what we assume, because, as they say, if you only learn from what you ASS-UME, you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me.”

In the early 1800s, someone warned that the streets of London would be filled with horse manure due to the uncontrolled use of horse-drawn carriages. Of course, that never happened. Combustion engines, products of research and invention, replaced horses, and the manure piled up in Parliament instead.

While on the subject, few people know that the most expensive coffee in the world is taken from the droppings of the Asian Palm Civet found in the Philippines and Indonesia. The small mammal excretes the coffee berries it eats, and forest trackers recycle the fruity feces to create what is known as Kopi Luwak in Indonesia or Kape Alamid in our country. Research has led to a synthetic process that simulates the droppings’ exotic flavor and quality.

So, who’s had coffee with their breakfast? Well, soon nobody will have had coffee and breakfast if the looming global food crisis worsens. Are you all feeling fine? Well, nobody might be fine for long if some new disease creeps up on us.

Health can be enhanced and life can be extended. The nudibranch, a beautiful, soft-bodied creature unfairly called a “sea slug” — a favorite among underwater photographers for its marvelous colors and shapes — has actually been used in tumor research. Samples of fish mucus have also displayed certain antibacterial properties. 

And as the Home Shopping Network would say, “Wait! There’s more.”

Certain types of infectious fungi that coat some of your toes form beneficial relationships that support plant growth. The International Rice Research Institute based in the Philippines continues to develop ways to improve rice growth and help alleviate the current food crisis.

New challenges are coming, and they will always confront us. What we need is an army of scientific researchers that will help find the solutions in advance. I want to be part of that army that would cross the new frontiers first.

If only we could make science fairs and contests as popular as the thriving “Idol” franchise — although I’m not sure if Simon Cowell’s sardonic comments will sit well with my peers. But we need the same hard-hitting passion in research and invention.

To conduct research is to be innovative, avant-garde. Researchers are like artists with test tubes and lab gowns instead of paintbrushes and smocks. When I graduate from the Philippine Science High School next year, I want to begin my “masterpiece” and apply for a university degree in biochemistry.

Sometimes I am discouraged by those who say that a researcher from a Third-World nation is like a Jesuit adhering to a vow of poverty, or worse, like a Benedictine monk observing the vow of chastity. It is indeed a challenge, but it’s also another frontier to cross, for me and many young people like me.

We Filipinos are well known for our dedication to service, in foreign homes, hospitals and hotels. (In our hotel, I found three Filipinos working at the front desk.) I want to be one of the pioneers that will make the Philippines known for its excellence in scientific research, as part of the driving force that will expand our horizons towards tomorrow. And I intend to have a lot of fun while doing it.

Going back to my math teacher, I eventually realized that, well, he was right. As he said, “To every question there is an answer, to every problem there is a solution.” We just have to go looking for the right ones. Who knows? Maybe one day we’ll be answering the questions that haven’t been asked yet.


Blond and Blue Eyes
(by Patricia Evangelista)

WHEN I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.

I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!

More than four centuries under western domination does that to you.

I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of “greener pastures.” It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino diaspora.

Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.

There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it.

My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.

Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore.

True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now.

My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino -- a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.

Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.

Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood.

I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of identity. Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the world's commercial ships.We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's West End.

Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!

Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire travelled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word.

We call people like these balikbayans or the ‘returnees' -- those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.

In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude the idea of a home. I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the country that shaped me.

And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.

Yes, Charice is not the first to come out in the international scene at an early age as a singer. Cute and charming, Josephine "Banig" Roberto at age 10 won the Internation Star Search in the US and had tons of standing ovations just like Charice Pampengco. (If I heard it right she defeated Britney Spears and Cristina Aguilera).

Charice on the other hand just came out in the Oprah show. She had Oprah howl like a fan and repeatedly said that DAVID FOSTER told her about Charice as a great singer. David Foster discovered Chicago, Michael Buble and Josh Groban among others. He also wrote The Prayer.

I hope Banig can give Charice an advise or two as a child superstar herself.

Here's Charice now:

I guess some of you read my blog on our new-found American relatives. My Aunt Sue Emailed me my genealogy and here's what I learned...

That I am part:
American (Wilde is not German but English-Irish)
Irish (My great grandfather is half Irish)
German (My great grandmother is German)
Filipino (Need to explain?)
Spanish (Ybanez of Cebu, my father's side. Here's how                  I got my "dako" nose but slightly raised.)

My Korean friend tells me that Filipinos are not "Asian." Quite an interesting comment. He reasons that we have folds in our eyelids as opposed to most Asians and that we all have "Spanish" blood in us. There's some truth in that...

So, tell me about your 'racial' background... ;)

No, I don't have cancer and I'm not dying soon. But this is an attempt to convey my wishes on how I want my funeral service/wake to look like.

1. One thing I love about Christianity is that it offers the assurance of salvation in Christ. Although I want to share this Truth to all my friends during my wake, I don't want it to look like an evangelistic gathering. Let my life speak Christ and the salvation I have in Him but no loud speakers and offering baskets if you get my drift.

2. Wear whatever color you like, even red. Unless it's an attempt to piss off my family on purpose.

3. No too much crying. Although I would appreciate people crying on my wake to signify that I am special , I don't want it to look like the end of the world. Hey life goes on on the other side.

4. Definitely Starbucks (or Coffee Bean). I want the atmosphere of my wake to be like a coffee shop. Laid back, jazz music played in the background with overflowing coffee.

5. Roof deck with ginormous umbrellas. I want it held on our roof deck and not in a funeral home. Funeral homes are morbid and scary while having it at home would be more relax.

6. Please, no gambling. I never gambled in a casino ever so...

7. Yes, people can sing and should sing. But again, only if they are moved to do so. Sing what you are reminded of me. A group singing of Papaya dance would be interesting as well.

8. Children's Garden boys should definite have a special number or two. Cease the moment to raise funds!

9. Miko Zalameda must play Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring on the funeral service right before I am buried. (Nope, I am not demanding... hehehe).

10. I wanna wear a stylish suit preferably no necktie. Definitely not barong. Phio Enaje can work on this perhaps? My hair should be messy relax. Um, but maybe that would depend on when I will die... hehehe dying in 2060 may be a different scenario.

11. I want ALL my organs donated to St. Lukes or any foundation at that.

12. I want my casket rented only (mabuti na tipid). Silver or white would be nice. Black may be slick, sure...

13. I wanna be cremated.



Again, I am not dying soon and I don't wanna die soon. But only God knows our time and destiny so let me say it now before it's too late. Now tell me what you think and let me know how you want yours.

I'm happy for my closest friend Arms Cruz (together with A-K-A!) who was chosen to sing the Singing Bee jingle. This show is aired in ABS-CBN every night at 800PM where you can see her sing pop songs (and sometimes odd songs  ) that challenge the contestants' memory. You will also realize that the band is the same band during the PHILIPPINE Idol headed by the majestic Mel Villena. (Arms Cruz attends the 7PM Sunday worship service at Fort Victory while Sir Mel Villena attends CCF).



As for Miguel Mendoza (who attends my Small Group), he qualified to be part of Pinoy Dream Academy Season two. Migs is bound to win this competition with his exemplary skills as a musician. Keeping him in prayers. Go for it Migs!!! Wait, what's the Karate Kid all about?



Mau Marcello, a certified Apartelle gang member (with arms, reymond and yours truly), can be seen in MYX with her Tagalog song. You will also hear her every now and then over FM radio. Right now I believe she is on Tour with an ensemble of musicians.

Reymond Sajor, ang pinakasuplado sa ka-close ko, is now working on his album with Gerard Salonga. Exciting! Tama ba itong tsismis Reymond? Kasi, you're not replying to my text. He he he... God bless bro!

At her age, Charice Pampengco is simply incredible! No wonder she wowed the Koreans (and continues to wow the world) as seen on this TV show.




BUT have you heard the ORIGINAL by JENNIFER HOLIDAY, a Grammy and Tony Award winning singer, in 1981??? The first time I saw it in Youtube (thanks to Sir Paolo Bustamante), my jaw dropped, literally! I realize how powerful singing can be when it comes from the heart. Right after singing this part, people would give her a ten minute long standing ovation. Eventually she complained and said that she just couldn't wait that long anymore. So, the director brought in dancers a la Vegas production just to cut the scene and have a reason to close the curtains. This is the reason why AND I AM TELLING YOU is a widely popular song.


Thanks to Jennifer Holiday (and now our very own, Charice Pampengco).WATCH IT HERE!

I hate cats. Actually, I hate the smell of their dung. I just can't stand it. I'm more of a dog lover. Dogs have more character. Labradors are the I'm-happy-let's-play-ball-type and rottweilers are the mess-with-me-and-you're-dead. Cats on the other hand are snob, lazy and as-long-as-you-feed-me-I'm-yours-type. They're all the same.

So I got me self a yellow lab. Lovely. Luther Blitz Ybanez (his full name) grew up with me when I was still living in the condos at Valley Golf. During that time he thought he would die if he didn't feel my legs. So whenever I moved, and I mean every move, he would stick himself in between my legs. Just like how cats do it. Odd.



Luther and I used to sleep together on my bed and he would lie on my pillow right beside my head. One time he peed on it and that was the end of his career as a "bed companion." I also realized I was allergic to the dog scent. Now he sleeps in a cage. Sad but I would still sing to him until he falls asleep. I would also practice with him the little German that I know of. At least he hasn't replied in German yet because that would really freak me out!

Now the cat (not really mine but my niece's), named Chester, is something else. Unlike other cats, he actually uses his litter box. Now that's good news for me. He also likes to hunt birds (like other cats) but this one would assume an "attack position" accompanied by a sound he would make like chirping birds! He imitates their sound! I haven't really heard it but I take my mom's word for it. 

He also loves to be petted which seems normal, but the weird part is that he licks like other dogs. Yes he jumps up to me and licks my face (more like my chin). Moreover, when I snuggle him and I touch his jaw, he grinds his teeth like a person sleeping. I still don't understand this part. Is he saying "feed me or I'll feed on you?" Oh, ya, this cat also likes the water. He hangs out in my bathroom and plays with my shower curtain. He also lies on the toilet bowl with the toilet sit up. Beat that!




I thought this cat is so cute that I let him sleep on my bed again. I haven't fully understood the saying "history repeats itself." I woke up with a wet pillow. Argh!



So, here are my two interesting pets. What have you? Let me know!

She's the prayerful one in our family. Sweet and gentle unlike my younger sister and I. Ate Sarah went to Canada several years ago and will be coming back this May. She'll be celebrating her birthday here. I can't wait to see her again! The last time she went to Canada I woke up late and wasn't able to say goodbye. She can't wait to come back and has been telling me how homesick she feels especially during the winter season... Here she is, pretty in green!

                                               My sister Sarah Elaine...

Millions of Koreans flock the Philippines to learn English as a second language and recently I've started to teach some Korean kids as well. I always thought I would be a good teacher. What I didn't realize is that I would actually enjoy teaching. Here are two of the kids I tutored at their home.


This is Nick Kim, 17 years old (in Korea once you're born, you are considered a year old). He is the shy type but very smart and can enunciate words well. He could sing Buble's "Spiderman" pretty well... He just flew back to Korea and will head to the US soon where his cousin lives.




This one is Mike Jo, 11 years old. You guessed it right, he's the naughty type BUT don't be fooled because he is equally smart. He doesn't want his picture taken here...













Gotcha Mike! Hay naku (his favorite expression). Actually he's more interested to learn Filipino than English. Paalam Sir Drae! He loves High School Musical. I asked him to learn What time is it (Summertime).








Looking forward to teaching more students as I open my own language school this May. It's called Cy Language Academy (CYLA). Pray for God's blessings!

How would you react if your waiter suddenly just bursts out singing with a theatrical voice and would then be joined by everyone else? This video is so funny! It's by ImprovEverywhere.  This group brings in a crowd that does random things in public. It's both amazing and amusing! Watch this video but don't fail to watch the second video that I will also post below.

This is the lamest protest I've seen. It's hilarious! Check it out!

Here's Uncle Brent's family. That's Grandaunt Thela Joyce and GrandUncle Green. Uncle Brent with Aunt Lilibeth and my two cousins (whose names I haven't gotten yet). 

Uncle Brent was trying to explain to his kids how we have the same Greatgrandpaarents, Richard and Freda Wilde... It's quite confusing not to be related to us through Aunt Lilibeth, I guess.

(I think mom will look like Grandma Joyce when she advance in years...)

I always considered Grandpa Webb to look like Ralph Fiennes. I guess we can take a poll now... hehe...

I thought we were overwhelming Aunt Sue with all our information and that she has a bunch of brown-skinned people as nephews and nieces but lo and behold I get a letter from yet another long lost Uncle who is married to a lady from the Philippines. Ain't that awesome? Oh and yes, I just got a stack of pictures from my older sister in Canada of Lolo Webb. Check it out.

This is the coolest thing. Aunt Sue, whom I just met the other day (if our assumptions are correct) is the little girl in this picture. Lolo Webb's 'favorite' sister happens to be her mom. That is the reason why my mom is named after her (Arlene).


Anyways, back to Uncle Brent. Uncle Brent marries a Filipina and has gone to the Philippines four times already. I guess we'll soon meet him and his family on their next vacation. Here's the catch. Aunt Sue hasn't been contact with him since they were teenagers (they're first cousins). And now it seems I was the one who reunited them through Email. I guess Uncle Brent found out about us from Granny Arlene (mom of Aunt Sue, sister of Uncle Brent's mom, Granny Joyce). Confused yet? I am. That is why I end my blog here.

More to come!

I wrote a blog about my mom who didn't have a citizenship and I got a pretty good response from people who thought that it was sad and interesting. Many are still asking me what happened next. Well she has her Travel Document now and will be "allowed" to travel. But there was a recent update that I unexpectedly  received  the other day from ancestry.com. Here goes...

In 2001, I sent a message looking for my grandpa Thomas Wilbur Wilde. After several weeks of not receiving any replies, I gave up.  Just the other day I tried my luck and checked out my post. I learned that somebody replied in 2005 (after 4 years!) with these words:


I was so thrilled that I replied instantly telling her the story of my mom. This was her reply:

"Hello Drae, I guess this makes me your Aunt Sue. First off, my Uncle Webb passed away in 1990 I'm sorry to say. He drank a lot and in his final years the alcohol and hepatitis caught up with him. He was not well. I listed him in the National WWII memorial-http://www.wwiimemorial.com. He lived in Coshocton Ohio the remainder of his life after the war. He married Adeline (Aunt Addie). She already had one child. They had a child who was born in 1955 who died either at birth or soon after. He was named Mark Thomas. Aunt Addie died in 1984 of cancer. I didn't know him very well because we traveled to Ohio only occasionally. Now, everyone in the family who lived in Ohio is gone except Aunt Addies first born."

I didn't know how to feel about it or for my mom. I did reply a long message to her (Aunt Sue). It felt surreal exchanging messages with my long lost Aunt and confirming that my grandpa really existed (and had passed away) and that really had hepatitis and all... Wow... I wonder how this feels for my mom that she never met Lolo Webb and now he is gone...

Thomas Wilbur Wilde
BRANCH OF SERVICE U.S. Army Air Forces HOMETOWN Coshocton, OH HONORED BY The Wilde Family
ACTIVITY DURING WWII INDUCTED INTO THE ARMY, THEN SERVED A SECOND TOUR OF DUTY IN THE AIR FORCE.