It's Fertility Awareness Week!

My birthday month is almost ending (Whaaat. I know, sorry. No birthday post for me. I was too busy from disaster reporting caused by storm Maring and southwest monsoon which just ended. Thank you Lord, by the way. I got three pimples in the aftermath of that sleepless stormy coverage! May our country recover very soon) and next week is Fertility Awareness Week (Aug 25 to 31)!! I'm way too far from getting pregnant because 1) I dont have a partner. Duh. 2) this is still far from my plans anyway (very much not ready, thanks). But I was sent to a fertility awareness seminar for a coverage which I still can't understand why my editor assigned me at (her words: I always do things for a reason) and yet  I found it very informative and you know what, I actually enjoyed. Hence, I'm sharing it here. And also, I was the only reporter there and the rest were bloggers!! So feeling ko dapat i-blog ko din sya. Hahahaha. I suspect that my editor just wanted me to chill away from my beat. Pwede rin.

Anyway, pharma company Merck Serono collaborated with Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction and Philippine Society of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility to put up a website dedicated to couples challenged with infertility at www.fertilityphilippines.com

Infertility is the difficulty of conceiving a child after a year of unprotected sex, as per defined by an  OB at the event, Dr. Mark Ancheta.

I love babies more than you guys ever know, and I think the point of marriage is to eventually have babies in the future. Kaya nga family eh diba. So this post is dedicated to them who are having problems and those who are just curious! I don't want to go to the geeky parts and explain infertility factors here, just go to their website. Or I'll post the link of my story in our news website as soon it's published. Here's a video from Fertility Awareness Asia too!! :)

My dose of happy films

I'm about to go to dreamland and I'm sleepy, so sorry if it's more poorly written than my usual posts. Lately I've been thinking about my own set of happy movies in recent years and how they gave me good vibes that I could watch them over and over without fail. In college, I had a thing for classic films and those intellectual movies that would make me think twice about my life after watching. I kinda feel smart if I get to appreciate an intelligently-crafted movie. How's that for a morale booster? Ha!! Feeling ko lang naman yun! Hahaha! I would go to Quiapo (woops sorry for supporting piracy) with my friends after class to hoard oldies but goodies kind of movies. But fast forward today, the movies I see are only limited to mainstream films I see with my friends whenever I get the time and from our "movie library" in the office. A co-worker shares his collection to all of us for free and I get the opportunity to catch up on films I missed, and what's better is I could also ask him which movies I want that isn't in his library. Mabuhay ka, sir! Unfortunately, I have copied (and continuously copy) movies from his collection to my humble HD but most of those movies remain unwatched simply because I don't have time for it. Sometimes when I get a break I'd rather sleep or get a social life! I also do not have the patience to learn to download using Torrent even if a friend already taught me repeatedly for years. I just couldn't focus to listen. I'd rather go buy in Quiapo.

I don't have a favorite genre when it comes to movies because I try to appreciate each one, except for horror films. It either scares me like shit that I couldn't sleep after or at times, some movies just disgust me how poorly made they are. Hehehe!! Feeling critic! My girly side of course, also likes cheesy films, the kind of stuff that make me reflect where the love of my life is. At the same time, I like action movies, war movies, suspense, etc. BUT!! Most of all, the biggest chunk of my bias goes to Disney movies! I will forever be a Disney fan, especially of its classic films!! Haaay! :)

So here are some of my happy movies shown in recent times. Although I still appreciate "intelligent" movies from time to time, my preference in movies has become lighter, with simple plots and heartwarming endings, but not necessarily "dumb" movies. There are still movies that I see that I go "WTF was that?" when credits roll, noh. I think I've outgrown complicated plots in movies because my real life is already stressful I just want to chill, "feel good" ika nga. Oo factor sakin yun. Anyway, I would likely  update this from time to time. Right now, the half of my brain is already in dreamland and my forgetful self cannot remember in one sitting all the movies I liked recently. I will no longer make a review. I also hope you don't judge me by my preferences. There are older films that are also "feel good" that I really liked such as Audrey Hepburn films and 90s movies but that would probably take another blog post. Not to mention Korean films and other non-American films that I really enjoyed. Dami pala! :)

Two years!!

This month I turned second year as multimedia reporter for the online arm of the country's most influential newspaper (pero di ko ipo promote dito). So if you haven't figured it out yet, I only blog happy stuff but aren't too personal that can be shared  and milestones. This December I'd be on my third year at my current employer, as I first started  there as editorial assistant. Wow, I'm getting old.

I'm on my second year as reporter and yet I feel like I've been on the beat only for a year or so because I took up so many desk work (I recently made sure that my boss knows this sentiment hehehe). How is it so far? I'm on defense beat which is no problem because I'm quite familiar with it. And I've always wanted this since college. And I hate politics. This is a prayer that came true, if you ask me. I even lit candles for this back then (I should've prayed for true love instead, dont you think?) But man, I'm already here and yet taking care of sources nationwide is no piece of cake. Whenever I'm already chummies with a source on the ground, he gets re-assigned!! Bago na namang aalagaan! It's hard to keep a source in hotspot areas! This military organization is so dynamic it's so hard to keep up! Sometimes I get non-defense coverages, which is a blessing because it's a chance to unwind (and at times it's not so welcome, because I'd rather be on my beat). We get lifestyle coverages or elections, SONA, senate, etc. It's a different world every experience. It's crazy.

I have a love and hate relationship with my work. I love it because it's so humbling and I learn a lot. Like everyday, there's some new knowledge to learn or a mistake to cringe about. It's also a privilege to be a witness,

to experience things first, to see history unfold in front of you. My pleasure. This job is so humbling, it makes me realize that there is so much I don't know in the world and I have a long, long way to go. At the same time, it gives me stress, it tests my patience to the bone marrow, and sometimes I really hate it so much to a point I wish I was one of those people who don't give a shit about news. Sometimes it gives me insecurities, and there are times it makes me feel like I don't work hard enough if I don't get a story. And sometimes internal matters in the office are just too much to bear for my already stressful life. There was also a point that I barely had a social life.  This job is so unhealthy, truth be told. And yet I choose to stay.

Today, I'm still overwhelmed with the influence of media. Like how this industry I'm in can bring down a person or an institution, how glorifying a subject can win hearts of the people, or simply, just how it dictates. Although I'd have to say that as a newbie, my journalism style is more of something that "tells" rather than "dictates." But the information we choose to share is a factor when the society shapes its opinion of something. (And I don't wanna get righteous about responsible journalism here, I'm no veteran okay).

I also have to admit, the perks of the job are really gratifying. On top of my list are concerts such as Maroon 5 or J Lo that I begged to cover. I'm definitely not one of those people who would shell out so much money to see these artists in flesh (Well unless it's my ultimate favorite The Corrs). We also have privilege to get access to events that ordinary people won't get invited to. Oh boy, I love my ID at times.

At the same time, I get sad whenever some of us in this industry think that we are immune from ridicule or we can get away with things, or we can get back at things or people unfavorable to us, or we are entitled to things, just because of our job -- because we have the opportunity to dictate and influence if we want to. Some of us can be really self-serving and use the influence that we have for their own gain. I don't want to point fingers, but it's a reality in this profession. I'm not saying that I'm perfect and I'm a person of integrity -- it's also been a challenge to tone down my biases in some of my stories, too. But I pray that I do not give the impression to others that I'm self-serving, nor I will become this kind of person in the future.

If you ask me how long do I see myself in this job, well, in truth, I don't know. When I prayed for this, I didn't consider what I'd do next if I get answered. And so I've become more careful on what goals I should pray for -- it should also be as precious and worth it. But until I find a new goal, I will play things by ear and be grateful to be where I'm at. :)

Blue skies

Let's talk about cool stuff.

When Ate Mylene, a former co-worker in the military, told me over one of our dinners together that she's scheduled to feature the Philippine Army Parachute Team in the magazine she now works for, I begged

with all my might to join her coverage. First and foremost, I've always been attracted to liberating things. Isn't parachuting or skydiving so liberating to look at in photos and videos? When I set up this blog in 2010, I chose a photo of a guy in parachute as my avatar, which I use until now (Yun ang konek). I'm sorry I don't remember where I stole that photo. Hehehe! I've been familiar with PAPT only because they are the highlight of some military events that I cover as a defense reporter. After the pass-in-review they would suddenly fall from the sky, popping their canopies, then wild applause  from the crowd follows!! As for me, I'd always watch out for those who land on their butts. Ang cute eh. Hehehe!! Ate Mye's feature would be a good opportunity to see them work up close, diba? Also, one of my closest girlfriends in the military earned my admiration when she took up Basic Airborne Course a few years back. Not all people, and a lady at that, can jump out of a chopper (I don't think I ever would. Unless it would be tandem skydiving). She'd text me almost everyday how tired she was from training. So there, those who can fly automatically get brownie points from me and they don't know it. Let's keep that a secret lest it might be mistaken as conflict of interest in my job.

One sunny day in March, we trooped to Sta. Rosa in Nueva Ecija (Royce drop zone) for Ate Mye's coverage. While she did her work stuff, I happily stayed on the

sidelines and observed these parachute guys do their thing. It's no joke, with all those double checking before an actual jump, they really mean serious business even though these guys are already expert in the field, kumbaga, Airborne level 10 (Divine!! Sweet!! Sugar crush! Ay, Candy Crush pala yun!). My reporter instinct wanted to start formulating a story as well, but because my main purpose was just to have fun and out of respect of Ate Mye's "moment" (hahaha naks)...sige, I told myself next time na lang siguro ako naman magco-cover? Hehehehe. The highlight of the coverage was a big treat for us, at least for me. We were allowed to ride the chopper and witness how they jump! I've already mentioned that not everybody can jump from a plane, thousands of feet above the ground....but let me add this: not everybody gets to ride with them and see how they fly, too. Yehey!!! Happy moment!!

It wasn't my first time to ride a chopper. I've been on a Huey and a Sokol but I always feel the need to emotionally prepare (oo may ganon) myself every plane or chopper ride because of the sudden downdrafts (I'm not sure what it's called, basta yung biglang baba). I hate that feeling. I had a chance to ride with Airborne students that day, which gave me a picture how my friend Laila was like when she took up the course. The students were so scared!! I was so happy when all of them were out because some needed to get pushed.  Hahaha! I was also secretly terrified at first that I didn't get a seatbelt but was only tied with a rope on my waist. That's what made the experience even more fun though! Anyway I came out of it alive and I actually enjoyed the ride. And later, when I did my research on Facebook and checked photos of Army freefallers in the air, potek, gets ko na kung sino yung Peter Pan na nababasa ko sa Facebook. Hehehehe!!! I would've liked to write more about them and more technical stuff on this blog post, but that only made me realize that I don't know much. Hehehe!!! I ended up watching several videos, and my research led to HALO and HAHO stuff I was already too lazy to comprehend!! All I can say for now is that I'm just amazed with their passion for this. I mean, they have to regularly train for this on top of their tasks as soldiers (And if I'm not mistaken, most of them, if not all, are members of the elite Special Forces. As you know, I'm also partial to SF just because my former snappy boss is one. Hehehe). Not to mention that parachuting or freefall comes with a possible danger every jump. This hobby or lifestyle or mode of transport, is something to be taken seriously. I wonder though, if they have used this in actual combat or relief operations. There was one movie I saw where they used parachutes to land at an enemy target. So cool. :)

Thanks to Ate Mylene and her fellows at Travel Plus for tagging me along to this coverage. Thanks to the Army team too, for being accommodating hosts. Photos here are from JM Punzalan. There are more on my Facebook account. Travel Plus May-July is out now in newsstands, by the way. Go grab a copy!! :)