My streaming/podcasting mic, Fifine K670B. Photo CallMeCreation.com
I’ve been playing with this thing the entire night by recording my audio. For less than PHP 2,000 (PHP 1,750 to be exact since I bought this during the 10.10 sale), I was able to score a good USB condenser microphone for my interviews. As I have mentioned before, I will be joining my high school friends in their Youtube series, interviewing people about anything under the sun that interest the kwarentals, or those aged 40 and up. They already ran the teaser last week and then they will interview me next month before my debut in December in time for our high school reunion.
The audio is crisp and picks up my voice really well. There is also a 3.5mm jack at the back of the mic for earphones/headphones monitoring. You know, kinda like what recording artists put on their ears to monitor their own voices so they can easily track if they’re going off-key because the backing music can easily drown out their audio. This is really neat. There is also a converter so I can hook this up to a microphone arm if I don’t want the stand blocking my LED monitors when I’m interviewing or doing podcasts/streams.
The base is heavy and solid so the mic will not topple down. Overall this is value for money.
Duterte and his administration are really afraid of women. For all his misogynistic attitude towards women, deep down he is really scared of us. Look at those who rose up against him: VP Leni Robredo, Sen. Leila de Lima (jailed), Hidilyn Diaz (harassed by government), and Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
He loves to harass and belittle female journalists. It is a scary time to be a journalist in this country. We had been a hotspot for journalist killings for years now (we were the most dangerous place for a journalist next to Iraq for quite some time now) but it has heightened during the reign of Duterte. I am glad I no longer have to report national news and suffer through his Q&A, press conferences with Harry Roque, or even monitor Duterte’s late night ramblings.
“Many Philippine presidents have attacked the press, but only Rodrigo Duterte, of all the presidents, have publicly subscribed to the idea that journalists are fair game for murder,” Varona says.
Because of the dangers we are facing with Duterte’s rise to power, some veterans in the industry like Howie Severino, Glenda Gloria, and Sheila Coronel, called us to a meeting in a secluded restaurant in Quezon City just to talk about forming a guild so that we can protect ourselves and fight back. Sadly, nothing happened after that initial meeting because we were just too damn busy trying to survive our day-to-day work of churning out stories. This was the week I got brutally attacked by government-backed online trolls that even harassed my office in Hong Kong.
I had issues with Maria Ressa and I won’t list them down here and those who had been in the industry long enough know what those are. But I admire her grit and determination to fight this tyrant single-handedly. I had marched alongside them wearing black when they had the march for press freedom in UP.
Since day one of becoming a journalist–since I co-wrote that series on juvenile justice–I knew that every time I publish a story, I have one foot on my grave. I had been threatened with lawsuits before and I had been scared but I pushed on. Being a journalist during the time of Duterte, even if you are not covering him, is a doubly dangerous job. I was told that a powerful government official does not like me because I am vocal about my anti-Duterte stance. And he scolded me and lost his cool on national TV when I was hosting a forum where he was a guest. I was asking a fair question that everyone needed to ask. It was scary but I had to keep my composure. I was told he and other officials boycotted the forum the following year because of me.
I had friends in Reuters publicly lynched by the mob, having their IDs, photos and personal information posted on the Internet, with trolls encouraging the public to inflict physical harm on them and their families. (Upon investigation by some of my other journo friends, my Reuters friends’ personal information was leaked from their records with the National Bureau of Investigation–information that they got whenever we needed clearance to apply for visas or passports). In a country where life is very cheap (you can have somebody killed for only PHP 5,000), those are not empty threats. Their employer had to take them and their families to safehouses until the storm died down. I was so distraught that time that I had to take a break from the Philippines and went to a place where no one spoke English–Taiwan–and took a breather to collect myself for a week. I just didn’t want news from the Philippines and I just had to be away immediately.
But Maria Ressa had to endure conviction, harassment, bankruptcy, and daily mental torture and yet she plodded on. She had to wear bullet-proof vests whenever she goes out. Because it’s no secret Duterte wants her dead.
This administration has demonized us. It’s in every dictator’s playbook–demonize every journalist and create your own propaganda machine and feed your shit to the public that has lost trust on the media. Now you all have this revisionism going on and conspiracy theories that make the maleducated poor believe the lies.
Journalists in South America face drug cartels and the corrupt government officials in cahoots with them, we in Southeast Asia battle despots like Duterte and the Marcoses. Journalists in Russia, China (in HK, that is), and the Philippines face the same thing.
My daughter expressed her interest in becoming a journalist. I told her, anak, you can become whatever you want but I hope you don’t follow my footsteps. You will be penniless and you will get killed.
I bought Skillshare and Domestika subscriptions so that my girls would have something else to do. My daughter, Twin A, is showing interest in drawing so I will give her access to Skillshare while her twin prefers Domestika. They’re cheap–each doesn’t cost more than PHP 1,500 a year. Plus I can also have access to both when I want to learn new skills as well.
Twin A’s interpretation of a power pole and lines against the sunset. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
If there are things that my parents didn’t deny us/scrimp on, these are art/music lessons and books. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up because my parents were strictly academic people employed by a state university, with only a few consultancy jobs because my father said their foremost priority should be their research and teaching. Devoting more time to consultancy jobs is a form of cheating/corruption because you’re using the government’s time to enrich yourself. Well, most of the time their consultancy jobs are pro bono because the NGO work they were doing were for the poor.
Anyway, I digress. So my parents made sure we were well-rounded individuals who had access to or some form of training in the arts. My brother and older sister enrolled in drawing classes and piano lessons but they didn’t stick to it. My mom bought electric keyboards because of those piano lessons. When they saw I was displaying much interest in piano, they enrolled me in piano lessons and I stuck with it for a few years. Later, they bought us an upright piano and I was the one who mostly used it. I could spend three hours playing it. We asked for books, they bought us books. When my mom went abroad for work, she would scour the bookstores for copies of books that we didn’t have here in the Philippines.
I am doing the same to my kids. When they asked for ukeleles, I didn’t think twice about buying them those. They’re still playing the instruments, but it’s Twin I who wants to take advanced lessons in it. I will enroll her if she’s still up to it after having that access to Domestika.
They’re still doing their Kumon and next year I will enroll them in review classes to prepare them for entrance exams to Quezon City Science High School and UP high schools in Diliman and Los Baรฑos. I am not going to force them to take the Philippine Science High School (a.k.a Pisay) exam because there is a lot of pressure there but if they want, they can take it. My brother and older sister took the exams and passed (can’t remember though if my older sister went through the second screening though because she wasn’t keen on going there anyway). My brother had a slot in Philippine Science High School but he later decided not to enroll there because he had most of his friends enroll in UP. When it was my turn, I didn’t bother taking the Pisay exam because I didn’t want to go there because I knew early on that I will not pursue a science course in college so it was a waste of time. Plus my math grades weren’t stellar so I had a math tutor to help me pull up my grades to keep me in the honors’ list.
What I wish for my kids is to have the chance to have more exposure to sports and the arts because later on in life they may decide to pursue careers that may not be science-based at all. Like me. But that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t learn the hard sciences. In fact in my undergrad years, half of the courses I took were sciences because I was a science communication/journalism major. My grades in my biology courses were mostly 1.0 or 1.25 (1.0 being the highest and 5.0 the failing mark). I quit one course (environmental science) because it was only my mom teaching that subject that semester and I certainly didn’t want her to be my professor! I had to change course (botany) at the last minute. I wanted to enroll in an environmental microbiology course but it may turn out that my mom may be the only one teaching that again. So instead I took some forestry subjects. I initially wanted to pursue environmental journalism but there was no such thing in this country and only developed countries have that (my target was to be a photo journalist for National Geographic). 25 years on, we still don’t have that.
So back to lessons, offline and online. I may be cheap on other things (like cars, housing, and furnishings) but I will not scrimp on education.
DIY
Despite spending the rest of Sunday mostly sleeping, I was able to shoehorn some DIY projects today. I was able to finally change the curtain rod brackets after three years of living here. I used to use the hooks left by the previous tenant. I removed those and patched up the holes those hooks left behind with some white wall putty.
Alloy curtain rod brackets I bought from Lazada. They feel sturdy enough and they have some heft to them. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
And drilling holes into the walls made of solid concrete left me exhausted.
All adults should have power drills. This is the most useful tool I bought for myself for my DIYs. And yep, that white stuff on my fingers was the wall putty. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Finally, I was able to finish installing the brackets and lengthen the area where my curtains can go.
Photo by CallMeCreation.comPhoto by CallMeCreation.com
I should finish the second batch of katcha/muslin curtains I’m sewing by hand so I can change these because these are already full of holes. Courtesy of my cats.
Because I was too exhausted to do any real cooking. I settled for mandu and Kikoman with chili oil,instant yakisoba, spicy fishcakes, and seaweed for dinner.
I cooked brunch today then I slept again after that. It’s unbelievable that I was still exhausted from yesterday’s trip. Then I woke up a little past noon when I was asked by my daughter to sign a proof of delivery as some industry friends sent me baked lasagna and blueberry cheesecake so I didn’t have to cook a midday meal or even dinner. My daughter, Twin I, and I gardened in the afternoon. I transplanted this flowering plant (I wasn’t able to get its name) and herbs I bought yesterday along CP Garcia Ave on the way home from UP where I bought our vegetables.
Basil and dill in our “dirty kitchen”. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Then we planted some vegetable seeds in new plastic pots that I will transfer to our “dirty kitchen”/laundry area because this area receives so much sunlight all day. The vegetables and herbs will be protected from aphids outside plus we can just pluck leaves from our kitchen “garden” when we cook.
After gardening, I slept again and when I woke up, it was already dark.
Gardening is some kind of therapy for me these days as I still couldn’t go out due to fatigue. Watching something you grow and nurture is also fulfilling, like having my girls with me.
Speaking of nurturing, the stray cats that reside outside our compound have moved inside the compound as our neighbor had also been feeding them and tamed them. We also have been feeding these cats since we moved in here in October 2018–exactly three years ago! Our neighbor had put pet collars around them so people would know someone had already adopted them and think twice about abusing them.
Brushing him with a toothbrush. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
So this white cat has been trying to make himself cute to us while we were gardening this afternoon. He would lie down and go belly up and curl, something that my inside cats would do when they’re begging for some petting. Of course I didn’t pet it with my bare hands so what we did was we got a toothbrush and brushed it so it can have some grooming and belly rubs. It loved all the attention and loving touch. The girls were begging me if they can give the cat a bath, I said no because it’s not yet tame enough and we don’t know what kind of diseases it has. We have to tame it completely before we can do that. The compromise was we brushed on flea powder on it and the cat loved the brushing so much that it begged for a repeat tonight when I was checking out my partially charged fairy lights.
Kittykat waiting for us to play with him. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
When this cat finally becomes tame, I would bring it to PAWS to be neutered, checked, vaccinated and de-wormed. Then we will give it a bath. However, it will still have to live outside because I don’t want to have chaos in my house. We will just make some kind of cat house outside so they will be protected from the elements. I would have to buy wooden crates and I have some fiberglass roofing here that I used for my “dirty kitchen”.
They say a woman who has sworn off marriage and choose to live single the rest of her life would become a crazy cat lady. I guess I’m turning into that now…which is fine by me. Cats are obnoxious animals but when they do give you love, it’s real. They don’t give you bullshit.
Duterte’s camp is really making a mockery of the electoral process. They fielded a clown to run for president alongside another clown, Bong Go, as vice president. Because you know what they will do? The last minute, they will do a substitution, with Sara Duterte running as president with her demon of a father as VP. They will make so much drama out of it, and the script would be like “people are clamoring for us to run so we will be making the ultimate sacrifice so we will, for the country.” And all of the DDS would be all applause.
OR
At the last moment, they will make a substitution, Sara Duterte will run alongside Bong-bong Marcos as his VP. If her ego can take it.
They have done it in 2016, they will do it again.
God save our country from idiots.
It has been two months since I last been in UP campus to buy vegetables and milktea for my kids.
In front of Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Prices have gone up. I could feel the rising inflation month-on-month and the problem is this is a supply-side issue that cannot be addressed by monetary policy alone. It is structural that requires some fixes in the real economy.
Anyway, after the veggies and the milktea, I went to Sarang Mart because I am running out of shampoo. Even before J came, I had been buying shampoos and side dishes in that Korean grocery store. I had been using either Korean on Japanese shampoos (Japanese Lux or Shisheido) for several years now even if they’re more expensive initially but they do last a long time. I remember in my last trip to Japan, I lugged several shampoo bottles of Lux back home because it was way cheaper compared to anything I saw in Singapore and even in HK. Then I found Lux in SM, which was much more expensive than the Korean Kerastase sold in Sarang Mart but a lot cheaper than Lux in Singapore (which I often bring back home whenever I have to report for work there).
So I had to replenish my stock. Bought Korean curry (which my girls liked), dried seaweed, dried kelp (which I use as kombu in some Japanese dishes), beef strips for hotpot, mandu, side dishes, furikake, ramyun, and I no longer remember what else i chucked in my basket.
Photo by CallMeCreation.comPhoto by CallMeCreation.com
When I was going back to my car, I lost my balance, sprained my ankle, grazed my foot on the pavement (was wearing slippers), and fell flat on my back. I didn’t realize that I was that exhausted with my short trip to buy foodstuff.
I am NOT yet ok. I’m still sick with Covid symptoms, mainly fatigue, even though I am no longer infectious and I can function somewhat normally. I still easily get tired and right now my head is aching. I woke up this morning coughing and wondered whether this was still Covid or allergy.
#LabanLeni. Art by Karl Michael Domingo via Instagram
Today all my social media accounts turned pink as people, friends and strangers alike, have indicated their support for VP Leni Robredo‘s bid for the presidency. She made her announcement today at 11 am and filed her candidacy documents at 3 pm.
She’s smart; she didn’t adopt the yellow color of the Liberal Party and the color associated with the Aquinos. The color dilaw that the DDS destroyed by equating yellow with something very negative. By adopting an off-tangent color, Leni is showing that she is her own person, not riding on the legacy of the Aquinos and not alienating other people who have anything against the Aquinos. And those who have shifted allegiances from being DDS to opposition.
Even Sandara Park, who grew up here and became super popular here first as a pop idol before going back home to Korea to be part of the girl band 2N1, has posted an irrelevant throwback photo that only Filipinos will understand. She still considers Philippines home. She was nicknamed Krung-krung here because her popularity made people go crazy (“krung-krung”) and she still calls herself that. Look at her Twitter handle.
Artists, musicians, actors and other on- and offline influencers have also shown their support.
Leni does not have the money like the Marcoses. The Dutertes have amassed quite a sizeable amount from their decades of reign in Davao and the five years they have ruled the country. But Leni has the grassroots support. People all over Twitter have been asking for details where they can donate for Leni’s campaign–and I have never heard of such movement like this my entire adult life (i.e. voting age). And this is the only time I will donate to anybody’s political campaign. Ever.
Duterte had been shooting Leni down since Day 1 and Congress had granted her office the smallest budget there is among government agencies but she made it work. During the pandemic, she knew what to do. Her office was the only one that provided free testing for the masses and facilities for healthcare workers. PPEs and equipment to government facilities. She made medical care available to the poor. If those who availed of the free testing turned out to be positive, they received healthcare packs for Covid home care and some relief goods if the patient is the breadwinner. The Office of the Vice President (OVP) will also assist those who needed to get hospital slots and oxygen tanks. These were made possible by donations by private individuals and corporates who do not trust other government agencies.
She tapped into the private sector partnerships for the vaccination of workers like Grab, Angkas, and other third-party logistics providers. This is just during the pandemic. Years prior, the OVP had a lot of programs like natural disaster quick response. The Duterte administration was so slow in deploying help to victims of calamities, so the OVP is the first to be there, like in Cagayan and Isabella during last year’s typhoons that flattened Northern Luzon. She has her shit together.
The OVP was the only one or one of the very few that had star rating from the state auditor.
She is an economics graduate from UP and a lawyer but she used her knowledge to be the lawyer for the poor and human rights. When her husband was the Interior and Local Government Secretary, she just worked on the sidelines with her cause-oriented groups. I had interviewed her husband before and he’s a very kind, hardworking, and trustworthy public servant. When I covered the plane crash that killed Jesse Robredo in 2012, it was one of the most heartbreaking coverage that I did. There was a dark cloud hovering over our newsroom at that time. His body was found 800 meters from the shore when his light plane crashed off the coast of Masbate island.
I need to fix my voter’s registration. I think I had been delisted because I wasn’t able to cast my vote in 2019 and 2016.
