Goodness how time flies—today my baby is 15 weeks in the tummy, and supposedly as big as a navel orange now. Last night Jaden and I watched a 3D animated video of the fetus from 15-20 weeks. Thankfully, she wasn't freaked or grossed out that this alien-looking creature inside Mommy's tummy will be her long-awaited baby brother or sister. I like sharing these little facts with her so the whole pregnancy isn't strange to her, and actually she's been pretty good and matter-of-fact with the whole thing. (Except she's claiming adamantly that she WILL NOT have a baby because it's painful—I've been trying to remember when I let that slip.)
My belly has grown so big so fast, that now people don't even have second thoughts about asking me! That's quite alright, methinks one of the perks of this pregnancy is that I have legitimate reason for the belly fat.
On July 30, Noynoy Aquino was inaugurated as the new President of RP. I watched everything on TV and got quite annoyed of the many song performances of celebrities—surely they can come up with better entertainment choices to make up for the non-Filipino time of Noynoy. Christian Bautista singing half a song. Regine Velazquez flaunting her victorious acquisition of someone else's husband. Mayhap it was just the poor quality of the broadcast; I'm so used to HDNet now. I had mixed feelings about the APO Hiking Society song; I felt it was too pop-py. What about national dances? Or kid's choirs? Why does it have to be an ABS-CBN variety show of some sort? Is it because in this country, there is such a blur between show business and politics? I won't even deign to go into that because it is such a lost cause. But I was kind of hoping that there will be a little sense of dignity and elegance in the ceremony, if only to show the many foreign dignitaries that we can take governance seriously.
Not to be nitpicky or anything, as well, Aquino committed a common mistake in the use of idiomatic expressions. Having ignored the events prior to this inauguration, when Aquino said, "Secretary de Lima, you have your marching orders," I immediately thought, "Wow, he has lots of gumption to fire someone on national TV." To tell someone to march means telling him to leave. I thought I'd heard some scandal about Arroyo's midnight appointments so I assumed Aquino was firing one of these appointees. I research the whole thing the following morning, and I find out that Sec. de Lima is Noynoy's best Cabinet pick and that he was just giving her her first orders, NOT marching orders. Hmm, I wonder who Noynoy's speech writer is.
Now what truly ticked me off were the supporters of the presidential losers. No matter how much they demean Aquino, it doesn't change the fact that Dick Gordon, Gibo and Villar lost, and that by supporting the new government does not mean you personally acquiesce to Aquino but that you want the country to move past the quagmire it's stuck in, regardless of who's at the helm. And trust the Pinoys to latch on to only one thing, the most interesting part of the inaugural speech—the wang-wangs. After all, it's easier to react to the wang-wangs than to economic reforms and corruption mandates. One would need to understand what the economic condition is to appropriately react to Aquino's platforms on it. One only needs to be nosy and watch the roads for the now-illegal wang-wangs unless you're police or ambulance. In true Pinoy style, simula na ang chismisan, oy sino ang me wang-wang at nahuli ng pulis? Full of drama, scandal, and human interest. If Pinoys refuse to see beyond two feet in front of them, P. Noy's call for change is lost in the wind. If Pinoys only hear Aquino's message about wang-wang's and not about the fight on corruption, then it's a longer climb out of the muck. Oh and yeah, to Noynoy, the real solution is infrastructure and stricter laws to manage traffic—it is ridiculous to allot 2-3 hours to get to your destination WITHIN the metro.
And so I waddle my way into my second trimester, proud to still be wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes (so there was a reason why I had invested in empire shirts, ruched shirts, and banded shirts). But this weekend we are waddling to Vancouver to raid Old Navy for cheap maternity clothes. I hope they have winter stuff because I would be my biggest in the winter and there is practically nothing in Victoria for mums-to-be like me! (Sorry Thyme, you are way too expensive for six more months of belly.)
My belly has grown so big so fast, that now people don't even have second thoughts about asking me! That's quite alright, methinks one of the perks of this pregnancy is that I have legitimate reason for the belly fat.
On July 30, Noynoy Aquino was inaugurated as the new President of RP. I watched everything on TV and got quite annoyed of the many song performances of celebrities—surely they can come up with better entertainment choices to make up for the non-Filipino time of Noynoy. Christian Bautista singing half a song. Regine Velazquez flaunting her victorious acquisition of someone else's husband. Mayhap it was just the poor quality of the broadcast; I'm so used to HDNet now. I had mixed feelings about the APO Hiking Society song; I felt it was too pop-py. What about national dances? Or kid's choirs? Why does it have to be an ABS-CBN variety show of some sort? Is it because in this country, there is such a blur between show business and politics? I won't even deign to go into that because it is such a lost cause. But I was kind of hoping that there will be a little sense of dignity and elegance in the ceremony, if only to show the many foreign dignitaries that we can take governance seriously.
Not to be nitpicky or anything, as well, Aquino committed a common mistake in the use of idiomatic expressions. Having ignored the events prior to this inauguration, when Aquino said, "Secretary de Lima, you have your marching orders," I immediately thought, "Wow, he has lots of gumption to fire someone on national TV." To tell someone to march means telling him to leave. I thought I'd heard some scandal about Arroyo's midnight appointments so I assumed Aquino was firing one of these appointees. I research the whole thing the following morning, and I find out that Sec. de Lima is Noynoy's best Cabinet pick and that he was just giving her her first orders, NOT marching orders. Hmm, I wonder who Noynoy's speech writer is.
Now what truly ticked me off were the supporters of the presidential losers. No matter how much they demean Aquino, it doesn't change the fact that Dick Gordon, Gibo and Villar lost, and that by supporting the new government does not mean you personally acquiesce to Aquino but that you want the country to move past the quagmire it's stuck in, regardless of who's at the helm. And trust the Pinoys to latch on to only one thing, the most interesting part of the inaugural speech—the wang-wangs. After all, it's easier to react to the wang-wangs than to economic reforms and corruption mandates. One would need to understand what the economic condition is to appropriately react to Aquino's platforms on it. One only needs to be nosy and watch the roads for the now-illegal wang-wangs unless you're police or ambulance. In true Pinoy style, simula na ang chismisan, oy sino ang me wang-wang at nahuli ng pulis? Full of drama, scandal, and human interest. If Pinoys refuse to see beyond two feet in front of them, P. Noy's call for change is lost in the wind. If Pinoys only hear Aquino's message about wang-wang's and not about the fight on corruption, then it's a longer climb out of the muck. Oh and yeah, to Noynoy, the real solution is infrastructure and stricter laws to manage traffic—it is ridiculous to allot 2-3 hours to get to your destination WITHIN the metro.
And so I waddle my way into my second trimester, proud to still be wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes (so there was a reason why I had invested in empire shirts, ruched shirts, and banded shirts). But this weekend we are waddling to Vancouver to raid Old Navy for cheap maternity clothes. I hope they have winter stuff because I would be my biggest in the winter and there is practically nothing in Victoria for mums-to-be like me! (Sorry Thyme, you are way too expensive for six more months of belly.)
