Ramblings Intérieurs

Philippine Daily Inquirer

100. Philippine Daily Inquirer

Finally, I reached the 100th mark for my list of reasons to be happy and thankful that I am living in this lifetime. Since this is a record, it is only appropriate that the 100th reason would cross all boundaries. And what more could this be but our newspaper for more than 15 years (if I'm not mistaken).

This broadsheet has been a very big help not only to me but to my family as well. The information that this newspaper has giving us for the last 15 years or so has been very, very useful to us. It does not only give us the latest news (very, very credible I must say) but tips on practically every aspect of life - personal, financial, mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. It's an all-in-one paper.

I can give short examples about those as I grew along with PDI.

Personal: I grew up reading the advices of Robbie, Rissa, and Raya Mananquil (now all models and professionals) when they were still teens in the 2BU! section of Inquirer. The advices of Tita Dulce also made perfect sense as I heed her advices and gave her advices to my friends who turn to me for advices (shhh...that's a secret).

Financial: The Business Section of PDI has more that just business news. It has featured and is still writing stories about the inspiring and success stories of the best entrepreneur the country has produced. Of course, on those stories it is clear that the success stories of these CEO's, COO's and taipans were not walk in the park. They encountered a lot of challenges, difficulties, and pains but they continue and succeeded. How? Read the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Mental: The Opinion Section of the Inquirer is another gem. This is where I read the best writers that the country has produced. Conrado de Quiros, Michael Tan, the late Adrian Cristobal are just one of the few many writers that I read in PDI that got me hooked on reading the most widely-read broadsheet in the country.

Emotional: A lot of stories in PDI had made me emotional. The stories of the youth in "Young Blood" and their counterpart, the uhmmm, sixty-something in "High Blood." Not to mention the real stories that appears in it's front page. The not so-good-things about our country and how we and I are not able to do something about it. But what makes this truly special is that because the stories always end up with hope. Hope that we should not abandon despite everything.

Physical:
Of course the Sports Section of the Inquirer is a class of it's own. Almost always on time (sometimes PBA results yesterday would not be included in the next day's issue). But in general, I could rely on PDI regrading results of sports tournament I watch. NBA, US Open, Super Bowl, you name it they got it. They also have the best sportswriter in town, Al S. Mendoza and Recah Trinidad (who came back after a fling with retirement). The Tuesday Section of PDI about Lifestyle and Leisure also gave me tips on how to live a healthy and happy life with articles about the latest exercises and how to have a happy disposition in life through the articles of Cory Quririno.

Spiritual: This is the best part.

PDI has Fr. Jerry Orbos in it's Opinion Section every Sunday. Fr. Orbos column is my must-read column of Inquirer every Sunday with his jokes and anecdotes about life and his practical tips in life on how to live life as a Christian.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer also has what it calls "radical optimism" every Sunday. This means that every Sunday, it's front page only features good news. Yes, only good news. If you read a bad news or headline, you will see the good news inside it. I have another good news. It's not limited to Sundays anymore, as you can see in my previous blog entries.

Now, how's that for news?

So You Think You Can Dance?

No, this is not about the reality TV show in the US but this is about dancing. My new friends here won't probably believe this but my close friends know that I used to be a member of a dance or a hip-hop group to be exact with a name that I already forgot. It was not a high profile dance group but we went to some disco clubs and danced the night away. This was in my teens and when the radio station 89 DMZ was still on air. I guess that shows how old I really am now. Haha.

I became nostalgic about my dancing because of one dance group that I happened to watch courtesy of my friend's brother. If you watch TV and read newspapers, you would know this group. Drum roll please...The Philippine All-Stars! My friend's brother had a CD copy of the performance of the group (given by the Philippine All-Stars themselves) that won them the first place in the 5th World Hip Hop Championships in Redondo Beach, California last July 29, 2006. There was no word to describe their performance and it made me more proud to be a Filipino after watching them. If you want to see their performance, here is the YouTube link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71g5CY4fMC4 although it's not that clear and a lot shaky.

I already read about the Philippine All-Stars in newspapers I think last year but didn't really get to see them dance. If you like dancing, whether hip-hop, modern, or whatever, you should see this group strut their stuff. It's amazing - the choreography, the stunts, the break-dancing, everything. 

I also have some movies about dancing that are in the list of my favorite movies. Two of them are "Center Stage" and "Save The Last Dance". The two movies are more than just dance movies. It tells of a story - a dream. The struggles, the hardships, and the things that the protagonists needed to do to make their dreams happen.

Another thing that's making me "dancing" this days is the reality TV dance show from ABC 5, "Shall We Dance: It's Your Time To Shine". You read it right. My mother always watches the show and when I get the chance I am "forced" to watch it. Hehe. Kidding aside, it is really a good show. You would learn a lot from it even if you are not a ballroom dancer. In "Shall We Dance", I learned the basics of ballroom dancing like rumba, cha-cha-cha, paso doble, etc. I also learned what one dance means, the emotions of the dance, and how it should be danced. Did you know that rumba is a "dance of love" and should be danced sensually? Did you also know that paso doble is a "man's dance" and that the male dancer should be dominant in the dance? I bet you don't.

Now, why am I writing about dancing? Because as what two dance quotes that I read said, "There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them." and "You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart."

"So, shall we dance?"