After Ten Years

Ah...after ten years, I am back on European soil. For years, I have been dreaming of flying back here. On Saturday, that long awaited dream came true. Hubby and I landed in Brussels and we've spent the last two days trotting around Ghent and Brussels. Tomorrow, we're off on an early train to Paris. The weather does not look promising but Paris is enchanting, no matter what season it is.

Hubby and I still need to deal with jetlag to synch our bodies with the local time so we're off to bed now to catch some ZZZs.

Bonne nuit!

And A Child Shall Lead Them

Seldom do we see the act of forgiveness reaping some very tangible results. To me, it is further proof that we shouldn't doubt that forgiveness has a lot of intangible payoffs, sometimes unseen or unfelt, but undeniably real nevertheless. It sends ripples on the surface that turn into waves as it passes from one human being to another. Waves that cause defenses to soften, walls to crumble, takes out the thorns of resentment, inspires kindness, love and a desire to change for the better.

At six years, Kai Leigh Harriott has mastered what I still grapple with.

Deeper Than Skin

The idea of beauty that is always presented by the media is the big-eyed, narrow-nosed, high-cheek boned, light-haired, fair-skinned, long-legged models that you see endorsing every product, from candy to cars. Anyone that came close to that so-called ideal is considered a "looker". It bugs me the way it has shaped and formed young people's minds (and those who just haven't grown up) on what the definition of beauty is.

What's beautiful?

There are those who obviously grew up with such colonial mentality that they opt for drastic changes and go under the knife to "anglo-fy" their ethnic Pinoy nose, or constantly wear colored contact lenses to hide what they think are their ordinary black eyes or dye their hair with a color so drastically different than their original hue that the whole look just doesn't add up. And then there are those who choose to enhance and showcase their best features by sensibly using make-up, clothes and accessories that fit their coloring and body shape to achieve a nice and original look.

I think you can easily tell what people's idea of beauty is in the way we doll ourselves up. The degree in which we undertake to enhance or change the way we look denotes how we see ourselves and how comfortable we are in the body we're born with.

All I know is there are those empty shells who are stunning when you first meet them, but all you hear is one monotonous hum when you get to know them. Their attractiveness seems to wilt and fade under the glare of scrutiny. Then there are those who look okay, but then bloom before your very eyes the longer you spend time with them (Note to the boys - the type that has nothing to do with how much alcohol one has consumed, okay!? Hehe...). Looking good can only bring us so far. Beyond that, there's just gotta be something else.

As it has always been said - beauty is only skin-deep. Sure, there's nothing wrong with making ourselves as pretty as we possibly can, but let's not stop there. Let's invest in our minds and spirits, as well, as they last longer than our finite bodies. True beauty is way deeper than skin. It emanates from within and transcends our physical limitations or attributes.

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PINOYexpats' latest issue is now online. Homeward Bound tackles the joys of going back and re-experiencing our beloved Pinas.

Mother Said "Oops!"

I was an accident, the unplanned pregnancy after five kids (his, hers & theirs) - the "Oops!" My Mother said she and my Dad didn't plan on having any more kids after my fifth brother. I don't blame them. If I were in her shoes, I probably would have had my tubes tied by then. If I were conceived by a couple more modern in their thinking, I probably would have ended up in the bin of some abortion clinic somewhere.

Nevertheless, God thought that I should happen and I did. I try to imagine what life would have been had I not been around. Obviously, my parents wouldn't have had a dependable daughter, my brothers - an irrepressible sister, my nephews and nieces - a doting aunt! :) I wonder who would have been in my place doing all the things that I did in my work as a student, an artist, an employee, and finally, as a wife to my Hubby. He claims that he was bent on avoiding the altar until he met me. I have no doubt that he probably would have found someone eventually as I believe no one is indispensable. However, I do think that each one of us is irreplaceable, because we are unique and we leave our inimitable imprint on people and things.

If my Mother had decided to terminate me at pregnancy, life would have gone on for everyone else, but I do think it would have been different - maybe better, maybe worse, but definitely different.

Thanks for allowing me to make that difference, Mom. For that, I promise to strive to only make things better for everyone I come across. Happy Mother's Day!

How Kaavya Viswanathan got happy plagiarizing, got a hefty book deal and got caught

It must have seemed like a simple formula to her. Why not make my own coming-of-age story? With some talent and an aspiration to get published, she probably sat down on her desk, put every book she loved in front of her, lifted the things she thought was great out of all of them, put them into her own little literary cauldron and voila... at seventeen, she had a half-million dollar book deal and was on her way to becoming a best-selling author. In all the back-patting, glory and fortune that followed after, I wonder if it ever crossed her mind that she would get caught one day.

When the story first broke about the similarity of her book, "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life" to two of Megan McCafferty's, she appeared in the Today show to earnestly apologize for the similarities, claiming that she loved McCafferty's books so much that she had internalized and plagiarized them unintentionally. They have now found a third chic lit book that bears a striking resemblance to hers. So no matter how much she blinks her eyes innocently, which way she cuts and stretches her story, it just does not ring true anymore.

A lot of us do foolish things during our teenage years that we regret, but the repercussions of what Kaavya Viswanathan did may haunt her for the rest of her professional life. This whole thing has brought into question every single article she has done in the past, endangered her status as a sophomore student at Harvard University, and cast a dark shadow on her future.

The saddest thing is, she probably is really promising and brilliant. Hélas, the taint on her credibility has now dulled that brilliance. One thing that she has going for her is that she is young. She can always find outlets for her other talents if no publisher ever signs her again. Another thing going for her is her newly-found notoriety. She can always use this to her advantage in the future. Pop stars, celebrities and disgraced business tycoons in this country have done it. I'm sure she can, too.

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Smart-ass question of the day: What career can one have when you have an Ivy League degree but have no credibility? Hehe - I'm sure a lot of you are thinking of pretty juicy answers.