THONGS AND THONGS

I am currently stuck with so much to blog about but so little time to do it. From the Easter Egg Hunting that we did for the kids, which was the other weekend, to the lakwatsa that we did over the weekend that's just gone.

I am, however, more excited to show you first what we, Tres Amigas, did last Saturday...

Anyway, last Friday, Cat got her DHL box from Pinas. It's got her late pasalubong for us from her holiday back home. She's got me a bag, some knick knacks, a shirt and some pinoy seasonings (I left it back at her place-Actually, I think someone's pinched it off my bag...Jehehehe).

But the feature pasalubongs are: JARRRRAAAANNNGGG!!!

HAVAIANAS!!!

It's brought the number of my HAV thongs to five. Had two from my sis and my cousin Bing. Another two from Cat, and one from....guess who!

PAPA E!

Thank you very much Papa E.

Papa E is Cat's beau...Actually, boyfriend...No, fiancee na pala. He's also given Mona a pair of Havaianas. I don't think he's just trying to suck up on Cat's friends here in Darwin. I think he's just a genuinely nice, thoughtful, caring, worthy, congenial, admirable, responsible, favorable, amiable, agreeable (huff. huff), commendable, sociable, affable, amicable, distinguishable (huff. huff) gentleman...any other adjectives you can add? I'm hoping that every adjective will be converted to a pair of Havaianas when Cat goes back to Pinas...very soon!!! Yehey! Another pair...Bait bait ni Papa E. Sabi ni Mona you're now one of her official sponsors...I-endorse ka daw nya palagi...

Kiding aside, thank you very much Papa E, from the bottom of our bottom...este hearts pala ni Mona.

No need to impress us. We know you're highly capable of looking after our friend.

Anyway, last Saturday, Cat, Mona and I went to this Bra and Knicker sale at the Darwin Show Grounds. Cat's bought gazillions of lingerie and Dolce and Gabbana thongs- getting ready for the big event huh Cat?

Mona was just happy to try every single kinky outfit that she saw and pause for the camera. She ended up buying a D&G thong as well...Wanna bet? That g-string you bought will just end up as Xander's sling shot! I bet my butt crack that Thong won't see the light of day. Baka ipapa frame pa nya yan together with the Havaianas that Papa E gave her...

I was not able to get anything for myself because I'm a Jammy kind of gal. I love my pyjamas and I can't stand G-strings. PERIOD.

However, I got that black leather kinky outfit that Mona's trying on above. Nope, not for myself but for a photo shoot that I am still trying to negotiate with these two sexy ladies. I also got these really cute thongs for my sister. I'm hoping she'll wear them cuz she loves wearing sexy low cut jeans. These thongs will be good to look at just in case her butt crack accidentally pops out of her jeans.

She's slim and athletic, so I think these will really look good on her. Warning though...these pretty thongs can cause you to be a bit of an exhibitionist sis.

But that's okey 'cuz I'm sure her butt won't look like this butt...like mine would .....

Uhhhgghh.

No that's not me...and that's not mine down under. It's some unfortunate soul we've spotted at McDonald's. Very good example of why we have to be very careful and make sure that even our undies are sexy and nice just in case it pops out, right?

Shocks...I think I really look like this...

OH MY LORD. THIS IS WHO?

OMG! OMG! Look at what I've chanced upon this morning in YouTube...

That garage door looks incredibly familiar!!!

HAPPY EASTER

(Some of our Easter Eggs for egg hunting tonight)

Peace and happiness is what we need today. May you feel His presence as He who has risen will never forsake. Rekindle your faith for His triumph is all ours to own and appreciate. A blessed Easter to you all.

-Cheryl and Family

SALT SUGAR RICE AND WATER

• Don't get injured during Good Fridays, or it won't get healed.
• Don't have sex during Good Fridays, the penis will get stuck inside the vagina forever.
• Don't sleep with your feet directly facing the door or else you will die.
• When you are pregnant, you should not eat a Siamese banana or else you will also have a Siamese twin.
• On the very first menstruation, girls should jump three steps in a stair way. Not sure what the reason was for this.
• They should also wipe their bloodied knickers on their faces to prevent pimples from appearing.
• When you get lost, turn your shirt back to front, then you will find the way.
• You are inviting bad luck if you sweep the floor at night time.
• Don't cut your finger nails at night time or you'll constantly fight with your parents.
• If you dream of someone dying, go bite a tree to prevent it from happening.
• When you go past a big tree or a dark place, you have to say "Tabi Apo" to warn spirits you are going through their territory, thus avoid bumping into them and making them angry.
• When you hear someone gritting their teeth while asleep, smack their face with a rubber thong to prevent bad luck then chuck that thong out through a window...Geees, I wish there is a Scientific explanation to this. Would give me lots of excuses to smack my hubby's face!

These are just a few of the many superstitions I've grown to hear during my younger years. Some Filipinos bring these weird and funny beliefs even here in Australia. Some superstitions have gone up to a different and 'higher' level...the Feng Shui.

My friend, Mona and her family moved into their newly bought house today. Advices came flocking in with regards to when/how they should move in. The one that probably reverberated the most was about what they should first bring into the house. Salt, sugar, rice and water. Apparently, this is also supported by the Feng Shui studies(is it even a study or an art?)

These four items signify the most basic needs in living, and should therefore be taken into the house before anything else so the household will have abundant supply of the basic commodities. I admit, I have also fallen victim into this folklore when we first moved in our house. With the number of people telling me this is what we should do, then I thought it might be disrespectful to those who wished us good. So I dutifully brought all these items in before anything else. I laid them to their respective spots because that's where they're meant to multiply.

Surprisingly, only after that was dramatised did I truly appreciate and vanquished on the realisation that we have finally bought our first home. I could easily compare the feeling when I first conquered the top of Musuan Peak. Then I had calls from friends asking whether we have brought the salt, sugar, rice and water in...I felt I wanted to say, "THE EAGLE HAS LANDED" to be even more dramatic. When I went back to the kitchen, I got the shock of my life when I saw it was raining with rice inside the freaking house! My husband was throwing the rice by a handful (each time) in all corners of the house like a priest blessing the bloody house!!!

I screamed like a wounded witch who was about to pounce on a trespasser in my domain! I think my husband wished he said 'Tabi Apo' right that minute. I asked him what the hell was he doing...He said, "Isn't that what we're supposed to do to have a prosperous life?"...Then I saw bunch of coins spread out in the four main corners of the damned house!

Oh My Lord. A variation of the superstition I've been told. Well, apparently these superstitions vary in all the different regions in the Philippines, and from the sounds of it, it also evolves.

Well, when my friend, Mona, moved into their new house this afternoon, she's done the same thing I did, but the Monaliza way. Her timing is apparently better because the full moon is up today (or tomorrow?), which is said to be another magnet for good luck and prosperity.

I know there is no scientific truths to any of these, but what's our loss if we follow? I did it to make everyone happy, and because of the fact that it's already part of our custom. I've always believed in preserving customs and traditions (only the good ones)we have inherited from our forefathers. Besides, it's fun having to do some kind of ritual during big occasions in your life, such us moving to your newly bought house.

What the hell...I need all the lucks in the world I can get in paying back the mortgage, I might as well do all the rituals even if it means I need to chop off a chicken's head!

The salt, sugar, rice and water ? We still run out of them from time to time. Could it be because I vacuumed all the rice from the floor? When you throw away food, you're meant to say "Porya Gaba"...Oh my...I didn't say that. I'm cursed! That's probably why they don't get automatically replenished...

UNVEILING TALIBAN'S SHARIA LAW BRUTALITY

I have finished reading 'A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS' last night and I found it very disturbing. I thought I've seen very backward places and met too many ignorant people, but nothing's compelled me to swear like I could kill with my mouth, as much as these atrocities did.

I searched You Tube if this fictional plot lays even half the truth of what's happened in Afghanistan during the reign of the Talibans. Whala! I found thousands of videos showing the injustices these Mother F*****s have done on the face of the earth. I have never been so ashamed of a fellow specie like I am now. How can these self righteous, sanctimonious bastards be classified as human beings? They are nothing but PIGS! PIGS-pretending to be so divine and better than the rest...

Religion does not do this...It's the society who allows this to happen. Yet they claim to be civilised! Hah! Children are meant to be protected, not abused. Where is civility in that? Women are supposed to be cherished and respected. Where's decency in that?

Fuck Talibans and fuck the men who do this! The world can do without your kind. It will be a much better place without you animals!

Women flogged for showing an ankle, hair, face? Kiss my big fat ass all you defective crap of a human being that you are!!! Women are not possessions, we are human beings too, just like men. But hey there might not even be any use in writing more about how sick these monsters are because they probably can't read anyway. As illiterate as they are.

I've heard a lot about gender apartheid but I've never personally searched you tube for violence in any way, shape or form. Now it's suddenly become all too real.

I've never wished for anyone to die in my whole life. But I do now...Die all you coward women-oppressors!

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini-worth every time in the world.

"The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race." —Susan B. Anthony

KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL

Bravo to Deborah Rodriguez, the author as well as the first person of the book. This is by far the best book I have read this year. Yes, I have fallen so blindly in love with Twilight. It was some kind of a mental refuge to venture towards the fictional world for which I have always painted in my mind to be the ideal reality I want to be a part of. But no matter what we do, Twilight will remain a mere fantasy.

Kabul Beauty School is reality. A reality we can all be a part of if we choose to and if given the chance. It is a true account of the author's experiences in Kabul.

Last month (March) was Women's Awareness month. It's good that I've read the book last week, which was still March. It reminded me of women's rights, issues, struggles, success and future.

For most modern women, myself included, we have come a long way. From the afflictions that our gender had gone through, to the beginning of the women's suffrage movement in 1848...then now. What rights we enjoy at present are products of the egalitarian spirits of women who fought for social reforms. It is however very unfortunate that this crusade did not slither successfully towards the East, Afghanistan specially.

With Taliban gaining power in 1996, complete ban of education for girls was imposed in adherence to a very strict Sharia law (Islamic Law). This marked the beginning of the end of women's rights and protection in Afghanistan.

Women get stoned to death if they are as much as accused to be committing adultery. Yes, in all forms of morality adultery is considered foul, but we don't get stoned to death in public for this. We don't get sent to jail because someone raped us. We do not get beaten because we've shown our face to someone outside the family. We do not get sold by our fathers to supplement their needs. We are not forced to marry at the age of 12 to a 45 year old man so our family can collect dowry. We don't have to hide inside the house and inside the burka when we're outside the house because the Taliban's might grab us off the streets...

When NATO Forces started occupying Afghanistan in October 2001 in response to the 9/11 attack, Afghan women started seeing hopes again. Part of these optimisms are caused by the arrival of the many NGOs in Afghanistan to help rebuild the country and the people. Deborah Rodriguez went to rebuild the spirits of women.

The burka clad women have been locked away for so long in these outfits which we, westernised women might consider a jail cell. For them, it is a protection. It's their hiding place from being seen by Taliban extremists.

Debbie Rodriguez is a hair dresser and a beautician. How in the world did a beautician help women in a world where not even a strand of woman's hair is to be seen by the public? Teaching people how to be beautiful in a place where beauty is not visualised is like teaching a bunch of people with amputated arms to paint.

She started a beauty school which clearly stepped over the cultural divide. The school hatched a number of (now)successful women entrepreneurs. But her journey was not without tears...lots of it. This is not to say that there was no laughter and fun though. Her book illustrated several comedic experiences. One instance was when her best Afghan friend, Roshanna, got married.

Roshanna is no longer a virgin (she was raped during a previous engagement). If you are a single Afghan woman and is no longer a virgin, the odds of you getting chosen as a first wife is dire. Her fiancee, whom she hasn't seen before does not know this. They have this consummation ceremony after the wedding, where the couple are meant to make love over a white handkerchief for the first time while the mother of the bride stands guard outside the door. The bride then hands over the white handkerchief (stained with blood) to her mother so she can proclaim and prove that her daughter is a 'wholesome-respectable virgin'.

In Roshanna's case, it was impossible to produce a bloody handkerchief. Roshanna and her husband tried several times, but Roshanna always ends up pushing her husband away. When the husband was about to give up, Debbie stepped in between coaching time and love making time. She clipped her fingernails too short so she cuts her flesh and spilled blood for Roshanna. She drained and wiped all the blood she could possibly force out into the handkerchief and handed it back to Roshanna and said..."Here's your virginity!" . They hid the handkerchief underneath the pillow before another love-making trial session... After a few minutes, off went Roshanna's mum screaming, "VIRGIN! VIRGIN!"

Her beating the odds in reshaping the outlook of women is perhaps the sweetest success the female population in Afghanistan has achieved in decades.

Afghan women have a long way to thread through, but there is always a start. The Kabul beauty school started and ignited the influx of self sufficient and independent Afghan women. Most of the graduates are now earning more than what Doctors in Kabul earn. Doctors generally charge 10 Afghani per visit, where beauticians charge up to 300 Afghani to do a bridal make-up.

She currently lives in California. It is very unfortunate that Debbie Rodriguez could not return to Kabul just yet. There had been many accusations and threats against her. The school was accused as a brothel. She'd been accused of so many things but a true emancipator of the long suffering women of Kabul.

Like her, I have this ardent wish to be able to do something big. I've always thought that if I'm able to change a life or two for the better in this lifetime, then I have not lived a meaningless life.

I have yet to fulfill that wish. Right now, I am in search of that path.

This book reaffirmed my belief that anyone can make a change. Specially a woman.

WELL DONE! VERY INSPIRING!!!

Photo of the burka clad women from this site:
http://www.afghaninjustice.com/articles.htm
Photo of Deborah Rodriguez from this site:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2007-04-11-kabul-beauty-school_N.htm