6. Dominican Republic - Eva Arias

7. Colombia - Natalia Navarro

8. Cyprus - Demetra Olymbiou

9. Guatemala - Jessica Scheel

10. Albania - Angela Martini

11. Slovak Republic - Anna Amenova

12. Paraguay - Yohana Benitez Olmedo

13. Greece - Anna Prelevic

14. France - Malika Menard

15. Belgium - Cilou Annys

16. Brazil - Debora Lyra

17. Puerto Rico - Mariana Paola Vicente

18. Australia - Jesinta Campbell

19. USA - Rima Fakih

20. Ghana - Awurama Simpson

Quatrains

Millenium I Century 1 Decade I Year 8 An old very ill powerful king of the Middle East shall choose a white bold but indecisive successor. All the kingdom’s king and men and emirates will praise and honor him. Except a small but powerful monarch. All of the kingdom’s men will ask but set in furious and anger when heard of his response. A short war will take place. Year 9 An infamous man shall be tested for obedience from his comrades to kill his now- famous, philanthropic, politician son. But driven by his conscience, he will not to do so in that particular time but rather run away, Fled from east to as far as the west for his sorrow and guilt for himself. Year 10 There stood a just but proud man. By the time of danger he will be in his death thru a wound in his heart. After his relatives, kin, wives and husbands shall separate and divorce, Finding another partner shall see in poverty and despair

Words Soup for the Soul

“You are not one of the reasons why life is worth living, not one of the reason why I’m happy all day long, neither why I’ll never feel alone – you’ll never be one of the reasons, cause you’ll always be the only reason.” “I was born with a heart, like the rest of us do have, but just recently I found it in half. Could you please check your heart? It might be holding my missing half.” “Learn to love the person who is with you at present. Forget the person in the past and thank him instead for hurting you which lead you to love the person you have right now.” “Angels don’t only have wings, they have mobile phones too that’s why this angels of yours is texting you right now, greeting you a warm hello and wishing you a blessed day.” “Mornings are best part of the day! It’s a sign that God loves you by giving us another day to live and glorify Him! A chance to greet our friends, good morning.”

Bituing Walang Ningning / Lackluster Star Song Lyrics and English Translation

The song is sung by Miss Sharon Cuneta, a local Philippine actress and was the official theme song of the movie of the same title. I love the song so deep, so enthralling that makes me sob and teary eyed. You can sing the song if you want. Here is the music video of the song with the lyrics and some scenes from the movie. Included also here is the English translation of the lyrics. It is the official theme song of the movie of the same title "Bituing Walang Ningning" which was released in 1985 starring Sharon Cuneta, Christopher De Leon, Cherry Gil, Joel Torre, Tommy Abuel, Chanda Romero and the late Jay Ilagan among others.






Bituing Walang Ningning
by Sharon Cuneta




Kung minsan ang pangarap
Habambuhay itong hinahanap
Bakit nga ba nakapagtataka
'Pag ito ay nakamtan mo na
Bakit may kulang pa




Mga bituin aking narating
Ngunit langit ko pa rin ang iyong piling
Kapag tayong dalawa'y naging isa
Kahit na ilang laksang bituin
'Di kayang pantayan ating ningning




CHORUS 1
Balutin mo ako ng hiwaga ng iyong pagmamahal
Hayaang matakpan ang kinang na 'di magtatagal
Mabuti pa kaya'y maging bituing walang ningning
Kung kapalit nito'y walang paglaho mong pagtingin




CHORUS 2
Itago mo ako sa lilim ng iyong pagmamahal
Limutin ang mapaglarong kinang ng tagumpay
Sa piling mo ngayon ako'y bituing walang ningning
Nagkukubli sa liwanag ng ating pag-ibig




[Repeat 2nd Stanza]
[Repeat CHORUS 1]
[Repeat REFRAIN 2 except last line]




Nagkukubli sa liwanag at kislap ng ating pag-ibig






English Translation


Sometimes the dream
Is a lifelong search
Why is it a wonder
When you got it
Why is it not enough

 
The stars I've reached
But heaven is still being with you
When two of us become one
Even a thousand stars
Cannot equal by our brilliance



CHORUS 1

Wrap me in your enchanting love
Let it cover the glitter that will not last
It's better to be a star without its brilliance
If it would mean your love would last forever



CHORUS 2

Hide me in the shadow of your love
Forget the playful / deceiving brilliance of success
With you now I'm a star without glitter
Hiding in the light of our love


[Repeat 2nd Stanza]
[Repeat CHORUS 1]
[Repeat REFRAIN 2 except last line]



Hiding in the brightness and brilliance of our love




Another Version of the English Translation

Sometimes you search for your dreams
It takes your whole life to find it
But doesn't it make you wonder
When you finally achieve your dream
Why does it seem like something is still missing


I have reached the stars
But heaven is still being with you
When the two of us become one
Even a thousand stars would never outshine us


Wrap me in your enchanting love
Let it keep inside the glitter that may not last
I would rather be a star without its brilliance
If it would mean your love would last forever


Hide and shelter me in your love
Forget the deceiving brilliance of success
With you I am a star without a spark
Hidden by the brightness and glitter
of the love we now share

Miss Universe 2010 My Favorite Best in National Costumes

            Miss Universe heat is on and everyone has their own favorites and rooting for their delegates. Though this year has been a bleak year for this once proud and prestigious pageant, it has been dwindling in popularity and prestige because commercialism and politics has been a major factor in the contest when the billionaire Donald Trump enter the picture. Yet extensive promotion and marketing of the pageant make it survive and resuscitated back to life somehow. I am also saddened by its fading prominence but I can't help but just have fun to its excitement by making my own predictions and wild guesses of who can make it because in the previous years I guessed some of the delegates correctly who made it as semifinalists or have received the coveted special awards so here I am making my own list of favorites. I'll also post my final favorites of top 20 favorites for the Miss Universe crown after the preliminary competition.
       One of the coveted special awards of the pageant is the best in national costume wherein candidates wear a unique dress which best represent its country of origin. Here's my favorite picks for the Best in National Costume award.

Miss Universe 2010 My Favorite Best in National Costumes No 1

1. Colombia - Natalia Navarro

Miss Universe 2010 My Favorite Best in National Costumes 2 - 5

2. USA - Rima Fakih

3. Thailand - Fonthip Wacharatrakul

4. Korea - Joori Kim

5. Curacao - Safira de Wit

6. Bahamas - Braneka Bassett

Miss Universe 2010 My Favorite Best in National Costumes 7 - 11

7. Jamaica - Yendi Phillips

8. Panama - Anyoli Abrego

9. Zambia - Alice Musukwa

10. Poland - Maria Nowakowska

11. Ukraine - Anna Poslavska

Miss Universe 2010 My Favorite Best in National Costumes 12-16

12. Peru - Giuliana Zevallos

13. Kosovo - Keshtjella Pepshi

14. Guatemala - Jessica Scheel

15. Albania - Anxhela Martini

16. Ecuador - Lady Mina Lastra

Quatrains

Millenium I Century 1


Decade I Year 4
A beautiful lady from Visayas will stumble them all.
Winning the biggest pageant with all proud & glory.
The whole nation celebrates.
A famous leader will do salute to her.


Year 5
Four strong nations shall comprise to help a poor ally.
Through the help of a powerful nation.
Once a foe, shall be forgiven.
Agrees to help, with great riches and wealth.


Year 6
A large, progressive southern state shall live his own.
Disease, war & poverty all in mind & present situation
Summon to unite with the nation
Jealousy of a smaller middle state shall appease by the mercy of a great fatherly state.
In the end, peace and prosperity will reign.


Year 7
Three famous but bared people of an Orient Isle
Shall foresee death before their very eyes,
Put to shame by once sacred people.
Murdered but in three days people shall learn.

Words Soup for the Soul

“Sometimes love is just like walking on a one-way street, but no matter how long it is, there’s always bound to be an intersection where two roads meet.”


“Love is like a knife, it can stab the heart or it can carve wonderful images into the soul that will last a lifetime.”


“Last night, I was making a list of friends whom I consider special. Well sorry I didn’t put you on the list. Instead I place your name in my heart.”


“Does it hurt more to be close to someone you love and does not love you in return or does it hurt less to be apart from someone you love, not knowing if he loves you too.”


“True love start by being friends, for with friendship comes acceptance, with acceptance comes trust, with trust comes respect and along the way love develops.”

Quatrains or Predictions

            Quatrains is the famous four line stanza prophecy used by the celebrated seer, Nostradamus in foretelling the events happening years, decades or centuries into the future. He uses astrology or the behavior of the heavenly bodies in crafting the poem because astrologers believe that objects in the sky greatly influence or has a gravitational pull over the Earth – thus events unfolded.
      I made my personal version of quatrains just to intensify the clarity of my insight and enhance my fluency and enrich my vocabulary. I would like to warn the readers that these quatrains are not accurate and not conclusive. I divided my quatrains into millenniums, centuries, decades & year. These are the first few of the quatrains.

Millenium I Century 1

Decade 1 Year 1 - Four nation at sea will be converted
                          They shall inherit blessings & abundance
                          Whole nation in abundance

Year 2 - A desert nation shall be driven to
              tempation of an evil war.
            Three strategies shall prove to fail.
              All will end in peace and humility.

Year 3 - Leaders of West shall come to honor & praise a humble nation of the Orient.
They shall bring wealth & prosperity to people.
The last leader to praise was a false one.  
He shall be criticized for an obvious pretention.

My Sims 3 Images and the Stories Behind

Grady the handsome hunk man is busy talking with a guest while his boyfriend is looking behind him

The grim reaper is about to take the souls of the wicked!

Everybody's busy building up their muscles, enhancing their abs, working out till they fatigue and worn out at the community's gym.

Her sister is harvesting the lettuce fully grown in their backyard

The two best swimmers of the community are having a hold breath contest to see who can endure without breathing oxygen for a long time.

My Sims 3 Images and the Stories Behind

The couple is about to kiss and everyone is happy for the both! Next thing is wedding.

The gay lovers are enjoying each other's company, hugging, telling stories and professing their love for each other.

His mother caught a minnow on their backyard pond

The boyfriend is doing some rounds on treadmill to keep him fit and up to the standards of the military and to build up his body on his home.

The soldier carry his boyfriend when he leap into his arms and they were both happy!

First Filipino Solo Expedition to South Pole 2010

Please support the lone Filipino expedition to the South Pole late this year in a fund drive campaign against global warming. By his success he not only put a Philippine flag on the soil of the southern Pole and not only put the country in the map of exploration a leading campaigner in averting the adverse effect of the menacing global warming!

Internet Speed Connection in the Philippines, A Nightmare

      The turtle fast Internet speed connection in the Philippines has always been an issue of anybody who found the world wide web a necessity from students to businessmen and realize the contribution of Internet to progress and development.
      A broadsheet column last July 30, 2010 titled, “Facebook on the Tortoise’s Back” written by Cito Beltran delves into the issue and uncover the real culprit of the crawling Internet connection.
      As a newbie to the innovation of the 21st century, Beltran seek the help of younger individuals who were adept at technology to engage him and his wife to the virtual world with billions of actual people around the world. His concern is the most usual complaint made by the consumers – the lagging connection of the Internet as they struggle to catch up joining social networking sites as Facebook, and Twitter, podcasting and video streaming. All of them blamed all local internet service provider which gives us a patchy service connecting to the rest of the world. Then a Filipino student studying in Chicago talked about the difference between the speed and consistency of Internet DSL connection in the United States and it’s like comparing it to a brand new Porsche to a beat up Volkswagen and another says that DSL provider in Hong Kong and Korea are way much faster than the Philippines. We have the high technology actually when it comes to connectivity but the real cause of slow transmission is that the local providers have been choking up the system in order to sell speed at different levels and different prices. For example, the lowest priced wireless internet connection cost 600 pesos a month and that moves up from company to company going from 999, 2,000 for 2x the speed all the way to 4,000 for 4x the average speed sold to ordinary Filipinos. Some students says that if you are in Baguio City, you should use “Bro” service provider while the young professionals whenever they are in Makati Financial District, they show their “Tattoo” and those who roam around Metro Manila with greater signal will bask under the “Sun”. This tells us that all the DSL and other service providers of different platforms are only good within their established territories, and not only are they slow but are intermittent and inefficient. According to Beltran, when he asked about the price in the United States relative to speed, it turns out after adjusting cost of living, we are already paying the same price as other countries except we are not getting our money’s worth. It also shows us that the telecoms have been making billions of pesos through intentional inefficiency. Beltran further added that it reminds him of all the convoluted tactics and marketing strategies that many telecoms have used is the past in order to squeeze every centavo of profit from our pockets by chopping up services or delaying the full roll out of interconnectivity, roaming and now the internet.
      Unfortunately, Congress and even government officials have dangerously overlooked the DSL – Wi-fi roaming service of telecoms. The current situation is very bad for business as a whole and bad for investment in particular. We are paying the price, but we are not getting the speed for progress!