BOOK REVIEW

LUMAYO KA NGA SA AKIN (Stay Away From Me)

Bob Ong

Grade: 4 out of 5

If you are looking for a trilogy book rolled into one, then this book is definitely for you. It is a three-part book which offers satirical comedy from beginning to end. Providing old antics mixed with new cranks, Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin tackles not only of personal issues but also political and social awareness. It's genre is a combination of action, romance, comedy, horror, suspense, thrill, animation, advertising, music videos and a lot more.

Bob Ong, known for his comic yet striking comedy, has written the book in a way that readers would have to make a double take to lengthen the comic experience. Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin promises not only to tickle your funny bones but also to instill real-life lessons and moral values.

Most of the time, Ong tries to remind Filipinos their traditional values they used to live up with. This was delivered in a way that a reader would laugh it out, but would pause for awhile and think if it does happen in reality.

Although, there were times when the jokes seemed like they were cutout from newspaper write-ups; however, Ong managed to pull it off by backing it up with a funny nonsense comedy.

Lumayo Ka Man Sa Akin is an ideal comic illustration converted into scripts, with effects and other superficial elements. You wouldn't be ashamed of getting your own copy, and once read, shelving it beside your Shakespeare collections.

Words from The Pink Diary

It's been over a year since the last time I had opened this and made a post. God knows how much I missed this. Now, I'm starting from scratch (again). It's not that I felt reborn for that matter. It's only that things have changed a lot since I, well, left.

Now that I'm back, I wish to update my blog as much as possible (as often as possible, too!). With a promising new look, I will be adding images on my blogs, too - for much enjoyable viewing. For my avid readers, DO NOT FRET! You're favorite novels will be updated in time.

I really appreciate all of your time for visiting, reading, commenting, and, ahem, rating my blog.

Thank you for your support.

Always,

The Pink Diary

Letter from The Pink Diary

This is a response to a letter sent by a letter sender. Click here to view the letter.

Dear Doodle,

Thank you for taking the time to write me your story. It was cute. I remember my high school days when one of my friends came to me about her love story, which was quite the same as yours.

It's never wrong to fall in love with someone. You should not be deprived of it. You can be happily in love with someone you think you're comfortable of sharing your life with.

As long as you're both single, then you wouldn't have a problem with it. Just DON'T hurry things up. As you have mentioned, it's been a month that you've known about each other. You need to take time to know more things about him, vice versa. It's not necessary that you have to talk about your personal stuff (e.g. high school crush, favorite color, etc.) EVERYDAY! Sometimes, it would be fine if you would get to discover each other by your own means.

Again, you don't need to rush things. Enjoy the feeling while it's there, but you have to be EXTRA careful. Just because you are comfortable with him, it doesn't grant you to fully dedicate yourself to him. You need to reserve some of those feelings, not only for him, but for yourself as well.

Don't worry about not having to open up everything to him. There's always a time for everything. Sooner or later, you will both soon uncover what needs to be uncovered.

One little advice, Doodle, is that you should ALWAYS BE YOURSELF. From there, everything woul fall right at its place.

Always,

The Pink Diary

Love Blossoms

Dear Pink Diary,

You can call me Doodle. I am kind of having this "love" problem.

Last month, I moved to a boarding house. You see, I am just renting. My landlord has a brother. I admit, I got attracted to him the first time I set my eyes on him. I am not sure if the feeling is mutual. We have been living in the same house for a month now. It may sound uproarious, but we're NOT living together. Okay, I may be baffling you. We are not together like couples. It's only that we are living in the same house, but with different rooms. We were not so close by then. We were like "hi, hello friends".

After Christmas, everything has changed. I don't know how it happened, but I find myself attracted to him. I always enjoy his company. When we talk, we're like kids. I was caught off-guard when he told me he is happy being with me. Since then, he always makes the first move, only for him to be with me. I find it so cool. We watch TV programs together. Almost every night, we listen to love songs that are common to both of us. There are times when we play CounterStrike together. We do things we both enjoy.

I celebrated New Year's eve with him. He gave me a chocolate cake which he bought at Red Ribbon. All I could give him was a huge, sweet smile.

I don't know if I am falling in love with him or if I am just overreacting, but I always find myself happy whenever he's around me.

Sincerely yours,

Doodle

Click here to view reply from The Pink Diary.

Day 1: What's your favorite color?



Color everywhere



Each of us has his own definition of colors, depending on our visualization of things. Colors represent a lot of things in life. Some simply describe the emotions and characteristics of a person. Other colors define the appearance of nature.

Green for dew

Most of the time, we use colors to differentiate one thing from the other (e.g. green leaves, blue sky, yellow ribbon, etc.) and some people would use colors to describe what they feel emotionally, on a daily basis. Say, when someone is sad, he'd say he feels blue or when someone is naughty, somebody would say that person is being green.

My favorite colors were not based purely on what I believed when I was a kid, like some people do. Little girls love pink because that's what little girls should like. Boys like blue because that's what little boys should like. It's not about that.

The colors I see as favorite reflect my personality, my emotions, my passion - my whole self. These are the colors that highlight me:



Green is all about nature, right?



Green - Green has been the color of nature for the longest time now. It signifies health, wisdom, wealth, growth and birth. It also represents new life and pristine. I started liking green when I was on high school. I found green to be very relaxing. Like blue, it doesn't strike heavy impacts to my vision. Whenever I am out of the house, green never fails to captivate me.



Pink tulips for love



 Pink - Pink symbolizes unconditional love, faithfulness, compassion, and friendship. It always brings the best of my emotional dimension. Always expect me to be very calm, emotional and extra sensitive whenever I wear pink.

Blue - Blue is one of the primary colors of the color wheel. Being one of the most popular and most favorite colors, blue has became a dimensional color. It has been used at different aspects. It signifies patience, loyalty, peace of mind, and spirituality. Like green, it relaxes my inner self and enhances my mentality.



Spirituality and peace of mind



Naming one color as a favorite may not be far from possible, but most of us choose to have more options.

What's your favorite color?



Choose your color



Letter from The Pink Diary

This is a response to a letter sent by a letter sender. Click here to view the letter.

Hello Pretty Miley C,

Thanks for taking the time to send me your letter. Whew! Indeed, it was a novel-like story, and I thought I was reading Danielle Steel, but still, I appreciate your whole effort of writing me your story.

I have friends who had situations like this, and just like you, they had a very hard time recovering from the pain they had. It was very hard that they believed it was impossible to move on.

Truth is, it wasn't impossible at all, but the pain and the hardships they had gone through made the recovery look unachievable.


I know how you feel. Yes. I definitely know how you feel. I had been there, too - and I sucked big time at that, but what made me moved forward sooner than I thought was the fact that I did not let it eat me up. Breakups are big monsters and it's natural if you feel like a prey at the beginning of it, but somehow, you would learn that the only hero who could help you kill the monster is yourself.

By the looks of it, you think your love was unrequited and that at some points, you felt like you've been used as a safety net. If not, maybe, somehow, close to it.If you'd ask me how I got up from the painful fall I had, I'd tell you this. You need to listen to Elizabeth Gilbert (renowned author of Eat Pray Love):

"A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave."

You might not have felt that he was, somehow, your soul mate but these words definitely would help.


You think you might need some changes. However, I hope you weigh the kind of changes you'll make for yourself. Otherwise, you might end up hurting people who are dear to you without your knowledge. For now, be busy with a lot of stuff. Divert your attention. Avoid the things you used to do together, or at least refrain from going to places where you used to hangout together.

I am not saying that you need to change your whole environment and disappear from the community where you are right now. All I'm saying is, you shouldn't be reminded of the things that you used to have when you were still together, and it doesn't have to happen in a finger snap. Take these things step by step. By then, you'll be surprised to see yourself fully healed - without any scars.


By the way, I credit you for breaking it up with him as early as you could. It takes a lot of courage to do that, but you were able to do it still.Like Gilbert, just eat, pray, and love.


I wish you'd find your happiness soon. Take care and God bless!


Lovingly,
The Pink Diary

Letter from The Pink Diary

This is a response to a letter sent by a letter sender. Click here to view the letter.

Hi there lonely_guy! Good day! Thanks for taking the time to write me your story. It comes as a surprise that my first letter sender is a guy.

Anyway, I can see how in love you are with your bestfriend's girl, or at least that's how you feel right now. It's complicated when friendship and commitment had to collide, especially when it involves your best bud.

The best thing you can do is to give your guy friend a time to cool down - but not at such point where he might create damage to your reputation. Give him time to think, but make sure you'd talk to him. It's important for both of you to communicate, but I am warning you (although, I am not wishing for this to happen) of a fist fight. You can't blame him if he gets fumed and enraged. It involved the love of his life. Try to be honest to him once you get to talk and apologize for the damage you've caused.

As for the girl, I suggest you to stop seeing her. You have cost your friendship with your best guy, you don't want to create any more damages. You need to learn your lessons, and refraining yourself from seeing her is one of the things you should learn.

It would be hard to move forward, but at least it keeps peace between you and your guy friend. Keep yourself busy with a lot of things.

I am hoping these would help. Thank you!

Always,

The Pink Diary

Questions of Love

Dear Pink Diary,

Hello! Please call me Pretty Miley C. I have a heart problem.

I had a boyfriend. We'd been together for a month. On November 2, he went to his friend's house. It was already morning when he got home. On November 3, he called me around 2PM. We talked. It was a smooth talk. After awhile, he said he would take a shower because he'd go to his cousin to a certain school. After that, he didn't call nor text messaged me, and he wouldn't reply to my messages nor answer my calls. Around 10PM, he text messaged me. He said his grandmother asked him a favor to fetch his ex-girlfriend at the airport. They were together for 5 years. She arrived from UK. That was the "reason" why he wasn't able to go with his cousin. Right after, they went out for dinner - him, his granny, and his ex.

He said his granny want them back together, so I asked what his reaction was. He said he was surprised and speechless. As he mentioned, it was hard for him to refuse his granny's request since they're living under his granny's roof. He said he was having a hard time. Also, the girl wants the same thing.

The girl has plans of staying here in Cebu (Philippines) for a month and his granny wants him to accompany the girl while she's here. He told me he doesn't love the girl anymore and doesn't have any plans of getting back with her, but I had a hard time believing him considering the longevity of their relationship and the reason of their breakup. They only broke up because the girl had to migrate to UK. For me, there's really a huge possibility that he's still in love with her.

The next day, November 4, they went to Imperial Palace (a well-known hotel and resort here in Cebu). They would stay there for 3 days. It was the girl's treat. With them were his grandmother and his cousins. Since his grandma and cousins would only stay during daytime, the only people left there during nighttime were him and the girl. I asked him why he wouldn't go home. He said he need to accompany the girl.

While in the hotel, he said he wouldn't be able to text message me much because he's hiding his phone from his grandma. She might confiscate it, so he'd text message me whenever he's in the bathroom or if he's alone, but I sometimes find this confusing because sometimes, he text message me like everything was normal. When I talk about us, he would tell me he had to go because he was just in the comfort room. He was kind of avoiding the issue. Sometimes, he would just answer me with "I don't know". It was totally confusing me.

I told him that no matter what would happen, he had to find ways for us to meet on November 6 because it's our monthsarry. He just told me he would try, but I felt it was effortless. For three days, he never tried calling me while he's in the hotel. That's when I started doubting him.

When our monthsarry came, I never got the chance to meet him at all. After that, November 7, their group (a group of bikers) had a ride and would go somewhere. Their meeting place was just near my workplace, so I went there for awhile. He arrived late. I wasn't expecting that he would go there, so I was surprised to see him. It also surprised him to see me there. We got the chance to talk, but his treatment was kind of cold. He told me a lot of things. Our conversation ended and we were cool with each other, although, I already had a couple of doubts on him. After that, I had never heard of him.

The following day, we were text messaging. I asked him if he could go to our place. He borrowed cash from me and I wished to get it. He told me he'd give it to me and asked me if he could bring the girl along. I asked him if they got back together. He said he doesn't know and told me that that's what the girl believed in - that they were together again. So I told him he doesn't have his principles because he couldn't make his own decisions. He didn't comment on that. I told him to bring the girl so I would get to know her.

I asked if he still loves her and if he wants her back. He answered "no". I asked him if he loves me, and he said yes, but with everything he showed me, I thought otherwise. I can't feel his love. I decide to call it off. I broke up with him. We had to stop right there and then so that he could focus on one thing - the girl. I know I'd end up helpless if I'd continue fighting for it. I have done so much for our relationship. I did my part, yet it appeared that I was the only one fighting for it. Of all the things I told him, he only replied with, THANKS A LOT. It was very disheartening.

Later that day, he went to our house, but the girl wasn't with him. We talked about our situation. We talked about us after the breakup, but he changed the topic. He talked about their group ride and stuff. He said he was with her when they had their ride because his grandma won't allow him to hangout if the girl is not with him, but I had proven this to be untrue since his co-rider's wife was my friend. I asked my friend if those things were true, but she said it weren't, that he was alone during their group ride.

Right after our conversation, I cried a lot. Like a lot! I talked to some of my friends and I was crying like there's no tomorrow. It was very painful. He told me different lies. I even asked my friend to text message him, and he bit the bait. He replied to her text messages, yet he didn't reply to any of my messages at all. It was very disheartening.

I had no intentions of breaking up with him, but it hurts so much. Please help me.

Always,

Pretty Miley C

Click here to view reply from The Pink Diary.

My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Dear Pink Diary,

Call me lonely_guy. I am 22 years old. I have a problem with my heart right now. You see, I have a guy friend and his girlfriend is my ex's bestfriend in high school. It has been awhile since my and my ex had broken up. After that, I was not dating anyone.

Recently, my guy friend and his girlfriend were having small fights and arguments. His girlfriend had nowhere to turn to but me. She ran to me for her comfort and told me about their fights. I, as a friend, advised her with all my heart. Unintentionally, I fell for her. It was instant, but I couldn't help it. We went out secretly. I didn't know what to label us, but it seemed like she was aware of what I felt for her. We made out, but we never made love. I wanted to keep that as a way of respect for my friend.

Without me knowing, she told my guy friend about what happened to us and that she was sorry for him for cheating on him. It hadn't come to my knowledge until my guy friend confronted me. He swore me, almost cursed, for betraying him. I tried to explain, but he was blinded with anger. I understood his reproach and I can't do anything about it.

Now, they both don't talk to me anymore. I am hurt because I know I can't take the friendship back, at the same time, I am in pain because I am aware that she has feelings for me too. It's just that she loved him more than me. What should I do? Please help.

Truly yours,

lonely_guy

Click here to view reply from The Pink Diary.