Right now, I’m hungry. It’s almost 7pm and I still haven’t shoved anything into my esophagus in the past five hours — which reminds me of the moment I arrived at my mother’s house in Batangas last weekend. And the first thing that got my attention? The two sacks of rice lying on the floor. Hmmm. Someone did some panic buying, I thought. My mum said it would last for four months, which means we won’t be worrying about the “rice price rise.”

When I came back to the city, I dined at my favourite carinderia near my apartment. It didn’t come as a surprise to me when the waitress told me that a cup of rice costs 10 pesos. That’s PhP4 higher than the last time I was there.

It’s really sad that we experience rice shortage. I mean, I don’t know, it’s just sad that a country as agriculture-based as the Philippines has to import something as staple as rice. RICE. RICE. RICE. Something that a Filipino meal isn’t without.

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Berg Loves Pizza is 2007 Entertainment Blog of the Year. Moving on…

Yoshke.com’s first Socio-Political Blog of the Year is Philippines Without Borders by David Llorito.

I owe this blog big time. It has become my Bible for my Foreign Service Exams. It’s become my most frequented site for the past months. It is very insightful, informative, enlightening and persuasive.

The Blogger: David Llorito. According to Asia Times Online “David Llorito is a researcher at The BusinessMirror, a Manila-based daily newspaper.He has more than a decade of experience in socio-economic research, policy analysis and business-economy journalism in the Philippines and recently won the Jaime V Ongpin Award for Excellence in Journalism (Explanatory Category) as well as the Australian Ambassador’s Choice Award 2006.” Wow.

How I Found This Blog: I stumbled upon this blog while looking for materials to read for my Foreign Service Written Exams. Although I have NEVER commented on his blog, I have been visiting it almost every day since then.

What’s so great: I’m a little biased here. The reason I uberlove his blog is that we always have the same stand on issues. As in, on every issue. We share the same political and socio-economic views.

What is not-so-great: Hmm, layout maybe. But for a blog with content this great, who cares about the frakkin’ layout?

That you have it. Yoshke.com’s first Socio-Political Blog of the Year for 2007. Philippines Without Borders by David Llorito.

Status: My legs are numb.
Music: Sober – Kelly Clarkson

After getting stuck in the capital city for more than two weeks (I don’t have cable TV there), I’m finally back here in my hometown where I get to have my daily dose of HBO, National Geographic, and the most important channels for me right now, CNN and BBC. And it’s not just because of their hot correspondents. (Oh don’t get me started with that, I can talk about it all day. Max Foster. Colleen McEdwards. Hotness. And John Vause, marry me. Hehehe.) Of course, I need to be completely aware of the going-ons in the international scene for my Foreign Service career path.

Anyways, besides the devastating quake in Peru, two things caught my interest and they’re about two different farmers in the land down under, Australia.

OK, the first one. David George, a 53-year old farmer was forced to spend an entire week (yes, every minute of every day of it) up a tree in a remote crocodile-infested swamp where crocs stalked him until he was rescued. Wow. Talk about patience. Everyone, give him a round of applause. I can’t even imagine myself being stranded in an island! But this guy, he spent a week up a TREE. Damn! Very admirable. But no, I won’t try it. I mean, take away my TV and I won’t stop ranting. But up a tree? Where you can’t do practically anything pleasurable. (Other than jacking off, that is.) And not to mention the hungry maneaters waiting for you to just give up and fall. Gawd. And he’s 53-years old.

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Status: My eyes are in pain
Music: Miss You Like Crazy – Natalie Cole

It’s been a crazy week. And everything’s driving me crazy. But first, I would like to apologise for my unannounced week-long hiatus. I have a pretty good explanation.

Last Friday morning, I woke up and realised that my left eye was sore. And it was itchy. And teary. And sooo red. And it dawned on me: OH.MY.GOD! I got a “sore eye,” or pinkeye or bloodshot eye! What’s the medical term? Aha! Conjunctivitis. Whatever. And that simple realisation marked the beginning of a terrible week for me. The next day, both my eyes were infected. (I’ll be posting pictures soon. Hehehe). I officially became a walking viral infection. (more…)

Status: Off to Israel… Kidding
Music: Shoulda Woulda Coulda - Beverly Knight

No, I’m not encouraging you to go to that Maxim party. (It’ll be in New York, hello!?) I want you to look at the woman on that poster. She’s one of the female (former) Israeli soldiers to grace Maxim’s cover this July. (Yes, she’s a soldier. Really. I swear.) There’s nothing controversial about it really EXCEPT that it is sponsored by the Israeli government itself. And why the hell is Israel doing this? Well, they say, to promote a positive image of the country. Hehehe. You think it’s absurd? Welcome to the club!

The rationale: the Israeli Consulate in New York found out that, apparently, Israel, as a nation, was not particularly well-regarded in the United States and was perceived as “too religious and too militaristic” by the 18-35 male demographic. So, they felt they had to do something about it, and *surprise, surprise* they thought, “We’re not just about guns and Hanukkah. We got pussies, too! Hot pussies! Hot military pussies! Oh yeah! The damn tourists will be flooding our airports soon.”

Of course, this “hot” move by the Jewish nation was not that hot or may be too hot for some people. Protesters claim that the Israeli government is resorting to pornography and trying to sell sex to promote tourism. Oh, protesters, shut up, will ya? It’s not everyday that we see hot bikini-clad Jewish soldiers. (Kidding. Shoot me.)

I can imagine myself talking with a friend:

Yoshke: Hey, I’m going to Jerusalem!
Friend: What for? To see the light?
Yoshke: Not really, dude. No light. Just heaven.

And this reminds me of a marketing gimmick by an airline in Ecuador, where they offer free bikini and swimsuit shows on board. The aisle is the runway, of course. And you can get this close to the models. That airline has already reported a significant increase in bookings. And again, I can imagine:

Yoshke: Let’s go to Ecuador.
Friend: And why? There’s nothing much to see there.
Yoshke: It’s not the destination, man. It’s the journey.

It’s funny how we use women to generate profit. States and businesses alike. It’s funny. But it’s pretty sad, too. Really.

Status: Amused
Music: Fly By - Blue

I know this issue is so not new especially here in the Philippines and also in the US, but I would just like to talk about it now that Europe is finally noticing what we’ve been laughing about (/ at). Anyway, are you aware that the Polish government tries to ban the hit television programme for kids Teletubbies? Why, you ask? Because they say that this show promotes homosexuality. Poland’s government has always been conservative when it comes to gender issues (to the point that it’s been dubbed homophobic) so this did not come as a surprise to me when I first heard about this on CNN about a month ago. But I really find this issue so interesting and somewhat amusing. They have a point, though. I mean, just look at Tinky Winky (see pic, left). Tinky Winky, the largest of all the teletubbies, is a male character, yet he always carries that red woman’s handbag. Not to mention he’s sooo purple. Ehehe. You think I’m kidding? No. I’m so damn serious. Poland’s Children’s Ombudsman Ewa Sowinska said that Tinky Winky’s purse could be a latent sign of homosexuality, and that the show may have some kind of hidden sexual subtext. No wonder some gay communities use Tinky Winky as an icon. Years ago, the late Jerry Falwell, an American fundamentalist pastor and televangelist, had criticised this show long before this issue sparked in Europe. Thank God Jerry Falwell is dead, that avaricious chauvinistic feminist-hater, homophobe, hatemonger, son-of-a-bitch. (Sorry, I got carried away.) And oh, can somebody tell me what Po’s gender really is? You know, the red tomboyish-acting one. Hehehe.

Anyway, I was also able to watch a Democratic Presidential Debate (I love watching and hearing the liberal Democrats argue. I also watch the damn conservative Republicans but all I could do everytime is either cringe or puke.) When the issue on the lifting of the ban on gay men and lesbians in the US military was brought up, I liked what former First Lady Hillary Clinton said:

“You don’t have to be straight to shoot straight.”

Very well said, Senator. Were I an American, I’d vote vote for you. Too bad I’m not American. (Damn, what have I said? I’m soo happy I’m not, actually.) Hehehe.
*Photo courtesy of bbc.co.uk

Status: Still Traumatised
Music: A Song for You – Elliott Yamin

Thinking of the most dignified way to kill yourself? Try volunteering for PPCRV as a Poll Watcher.

But surprisingly, I’m still alive. (But I didn’t intend to kill myself, I just wanted to help.) Yep, believe it or not, the ever arrogant Yoshke made a humble and noble choice of volunteering this election season. And after almost 30 hours of no sleep and sagging eyebags and new sets of pimples, I was completely a different person. My mum asked me when I got home, “How was it?” And all I could reply was, “Traumatic.”

I knew it was gonna be tough and rough but I never expected it to be that chaotic, dramatic, and violent. The last sound that a diplomat wannabe wants to hear is the sound of a gunshot. And hell, in that volunteering stint, I got the last thing I wanted. Though it was just a warning shot, for a peace-loving creature like me, it was just too much.

May 14, 6:30am, my first stop was the church to meet the priests who would give me specific instructions. As a PPCRV volunteer, the most important duties were to fill in the Certificates of Votes (COVs) they handed me, and to pick up the 6th copy (Namfrel copy) of election returns from the precincts and drop them off at the parish hall. Other tasks include looking out for cheating incidents and other irregularities.

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Status: Waiting. Just waiting.
Music: Hurt – Christina Aguilera

Here’s something to make your day a little brighter. U.P. (University of the Philippines) made it to Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli Symonds (THES-QS) Top Universities in the World. We are 299th in the world, 47th in Asia, 10th in Southeast Asia and the best in the country. But then again, as an old colleague of mine said, during her college years, UP was 23rd globally (not sure if this is true, though). Anyway, also in the list are Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), De La Salle University (DLSU), and University of Santo Tomas (UST). I wonder why Silliman University is not in the list when I’ve been hearing stuff saying Silliman is already next to UP in the local rankings. Hmmm…. Perhaps the group who conducted this study did not take a look at and into Silliman.

Here’s the summary of the list.*

WORLD’S TOP TEN:
1. Harvard University, USA
2. University of Cambridge, UK
3. University of Oxford, UK
4/5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University, USA
6. Stanford University, USA
7. California Institute of Technology, USA
8. University of California Berkeley, USA
9. Imperial College London, UK
10. Princeton University, USA

ASIA’S TOP TEN:
14. Peking University, China
19. University of Tokyo, Japan
19. National University of Singapore, Singapore
28. Tsing Hua University, China
29. Kyoto University, Japan
33. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
50. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
57. Indian Institute of Technology, India
58. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
61. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

SOUTHEAST ASIA’S TOP TEN:
19. National University of Singapore, Singapore
61. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
161. Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
192. University of Malaya, Malaysia
250. University of Indonesia, Indonesia
258. Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
270. University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
277. University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
292. University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
299. University of the Philippines, Philippines

PHILIPPINE RANKINGS:
299. University of the Philippines
392. De La Salle University
484. Ateneo de Manila University
500. University of Santo Tomas

*special thanks to beterano of peyups.com