*The day after the tragic incidents because of typhoon Ondoy.

The sun shone on me when I woke up. I looked outside my window. The rain had already stopped. Everything was already calm. I thought everything was already fine. I jumped up off my bed and headed to the bathroom to do my usual morning ritual. Then, I greeted my sister a happy birthday. Today is her 16th birthday. Downstairs, our helpers were busy preparing food for my sister’s little birthday celebration. Around 930am, Together with my mom and my two sisters, we went to Paseo de Sta. Rosa to buy some school supplies at NBS and a cake for Gien at Red Ribbon. On our way, I observed the surroundings. It seemed that everything was back to normal. Unlike last night, there were no pond-like formations on the roads anymore. When we got home, we ate and celebrated altogether. It was lunch time then. After that, my whole family left, except for me and my brother. They went to the airport to fetch someone, a Chinese client of my Dad’s corporation if I’m not mistaken. I did academic stuffs when they were gone. It was much more quiet and peaceful when only a few people were here in our house. That gave me more focus to do what should be done. It was 7pm already when I realized that I haven’t watched TV since I woke up. (The cable wasn’t to my TV. That’s why I can’t watch anything.) So, I decided to go to my sister’s room and watch some news for me to be somewhat informed of what had happened to the victims of Bagyong Onyo. I watched TV Patrol Linggo, and there I saw the flooded places including Manila, Rizal, and Quezon. It was a total disaster. People were in total distress. They lost their homes, some were destroyed. They do not have food. There were still people that were left unrescued. Many people died, mostly drowned, some were buried under the landslides. Many people were missing. While watching everything, I cried. I pitied the people on the news and at the same time, I was very grateful that we did not have to go through the same circumstances. We were so lucky to be living peacefully here in Laguna Belair. There were no floods in here, and we have food and water. Our houses were not destroyed and everyone was safe. TV Patrol also reported that there were many donations that are coming to help our fellow kababayans. It was around 25 million when I watched the news, but it was still increasing. Then I remembered the issue about Pres. GMA spending 800 million pesos in her foreign trips that were supposedly to be used as emergency funds. Imagine how much money she stole and enjoyed all by herself. I actually can’t believe it. I mean, the funds should have been used now. Now that many Filipinos need help, and financial assistance. They need food, clothes, medicines, and shelter. That 800 million pesos could have been very helpful, if only it was not wasted by a very selfish dwarf. Sorry for the word, but I am angry. I am angry because of the selfish politicians that continue to “lead” the Philippines. I would pray. I would continue to pray for the betterment of Philippines. Oh, we did not have our NSTP today. Classes were suspended until Tuesday. I hope by that time, everything will be fine.

I wrote when typhoon Ondoy came.

When I woke up this morning, it was raining heavily. The wind was blowing really hard, so hard, I can say that it was howling. I peeped at my window and saw plants and trees drenched in water. It was very gloomy outside. The rain did not stop. It poured harder around 9am. The rain continued for so long. I got up my bed and did my morning ritual (brushing my teeth, washing my face, eating breakfast). Then I did my assignments, updated my facebook, and read some of my books. I’ve already done a lot of things but it was still raining. Around 4pm, I started preparing for my friend’s debut party. I wore this blackish maroon, sort of violet, dress. As I was dressing up, I heard Jennica Garcia’s trembling voice on TV. She was crying. Their house was flooded and they needed some help. They were already on the second floor of their house, but the water was still rising. She also said that she can’t see their car already. Hearing Jennica’s story made me nervous. It was still raining that time. I thought to myself, “Should we still go to the party? It might be dangerous.” But still, we went. The rain was still pouring. Everything’s wet. Some parts of the road have these pond-like water formations. (Whatever you call it) I am referring to the ones that splash whenever a car passes on it. When we got to the toll gate, my mom asked the clerk what part of slex is flooded. The clerk said that Southwoods exit was flooded so we cannot pass. She told us to take carmona exit instead and just traverse the service road to get to Muntinlupa. Then we reached SLEX, there were only a few cars travelling. My sister said, “Hala! Wala ng tao.” It made me laugh. Haha. Then, when we got to Carmona, we saw many stranded cars. The clerk said that the roads going to Manila were closed. They weren’t letting anyone pass because of the chest-deep flood somewhere at SLEX. I even saw a truck, the one used by construction suppliers, with people on it. Some were wearing kapote and some were protecting themselves from the rain by their umbrellas. But I think, they were all wet already. We passed by Paseo de Carmona, and then as we go along, we noticed that the road ahead us is flooded. My mom continued driving, telling us not to worry because the water is just shallow. We were riding a Ford Lynx. (imagine how low is that) As we went along, we heard gushes of water on the sides of the car. We even felt the waves. It felt like the waves were lifting our car a bit. Then, the water begun rising. The waves became more intense. We panicked! So our mom also panicked. Haha. We were afraid because our car is an automatic one. If we get stuck, it can’t be pushed. We parked our car in front of an establishment. I haven’t read the name, ‘coz it wasn’t my concern, haha. All I really cared about that time is to go home safely. We waited for the water to subside. For an hour, we just stayed there. Waiting. Good thing I brought with me Dom’s book, The Pretenders. I read it, and I’ve read a lot without noticing! I finished until page 18. That may not seem to be unusual for some, but for me, it was a record! Haha! It usually takes me a lot of time when reading books. Well, the story was quite interesting. It made me ask many questions to myself, maybe that’s the reason why I keep on reading, to find the answers.

I’ve seen people walking through the flood, people who were stranded, people who were waiting for the rain to stop. The traffic of messages is quite heavy. Messages sent were delayed on their ways. Networks were busy. While on our way home, I was trying to contact my dad, so that he would not worry about us. When I was talking to him, there were interrupting sounds, sounds that seems to come from aliens, I don’t know. There is this one thing that made me laugh. I asked Daddy, “Asan ka na po ba ngayon?” Then he answered, “Nasan ako? Eh di ba, kanina nasa bahay ako?” (Hahahahaah! Well, I hope you got it.) Then finally, we got home. It was still raining, but not as hard as earlier. Then, while doing my stuffs, I could hear the news from my sister’s tv. It was all about, of course, the storm and the damage it had caused. There were still many people left unrescued on the tops of their houses, including Christine Reyes. In other areas, there were people who died. I am not so updated about the happenings because I do not have my television. I mean, technically. I actually have my T.V. inside my room, but the cable wasn’t attached to it so I can’t watch anything. Haha. It’s useless. Anyway, going back to the fact that this storm have caused a lot of distress, and have taken lives of our fellow Filipinos, it makes me feel sad. I feel like Mother Nature is really angry. Just look back at what had happened this year. It was hot during January and February, and rain poured during the summer season. June, July, and August came. There were storms, but not so intense. And only in this year, that I did not have rain on my birthday. Now, at the month of September, came storms. Storms like this (Bagyong Ondoy) that is really distressful. I’m wondering what happened to my friend’s debut party. These incidents made me realize more the things that I have. How blessed I am. Our house wasn’t flooded. We still have this beautiful shelter, good as new. It wasn’t damaged by the storm. I didn’t have to go through the same unfortunate things that happened to some of our kababayans. Two of my classmates needed to go through a series of floods in order for them to reach home. JC spent 2 hours to go home while it took Arnon almost 8hours to reach home. Gosh! I was very thankful the same thing did not happen to me. Then, I found out that Lou and Hap were still at MCL! And they are going to sleep there! They were stranded and they had no choice but to stay. They’ll be going home tomorrow. Lou said that there were relief goods from Sir mesina. They had rice and soaps, also pillows. I told them that it was a one of a kind experience. Haha! When I was talking to him, it seems like they were enjoying their stay there. Haha! I just hope that they would be fine, and everyone would be fine.

Masayang pamumuhay kanyang nagisnan,
Kasama ang kanyang ina sa kabukiran.
Mukha nila’y laging may ngiting laman,
Sila’y maligaya kapos man sa yaman.

Araw at gabi ina’y nagtatrabaho,
Upang inipong salapi ay maging husto.
Pangarap ng ina’y siya;y makapagtapos,
At sa kahirapan ay hindi magapos.

Ngunit sa di inaasahang pagkakataon,
Kamataya’y dumating na parang alon.
Kanyang ina ang siyang natunton,
O sadyang kay bilis ng panahon.

Hindi malaman ang kanyang gagawin.
Ang mawalay sa inay di kayang tanggapin.
Sakit ang dulot ng tinik sa damdamin,
Sa araw-araw ito’y mabigat na dalahin.

Mga panahong silang mag-inay magkasama,
Parang kidlat na bumabalik sa kanyang alaala.
Ninais niyang umaga’y di na magisnan,
At ubusin na ang buhanging laman ng orasan.

Isang umaga, sa kanyang paggising,
Sumikat muli ang araw at nagningning.
Ang mundong dati’y puno ng kalungkutan,
Naging maaliwala, naglaho ang kadiliman.

Natanto niyang siya’y nagkamali pala,
Upang iluklok ang sarili sa pighati at dusa.
Isa lamang ito sa mga unos ng buhay,
Ang Ama’t ina sa langit ang magiging gabay.

*I can't recall when, where, and why did I wrote this one. Obviously it is for a filipino course. =p

So here’s everything I knew from a friend of mine. I quoted some of his words.

“Revelation is the creepiest part of the bible.” Obama is here to “make a one world government.” He is “the antichrist, the beast” that is written in revelations. “The devil himself will try to be a peacemaker in order for him to accomplish his goal, to establish a one world government. He will force everyone, rich or poor” to put his mark on our body. His mark is his number, 666. Whoever rejects it will be killed. The other beast mentioned is the pope. He is “kaagapay” (companion) of Obama. “Kaagapay meaning kasama nya un para sambahin si Obama.” The pope is a very influential person. The pope also has the number 666 mark. In his headgear, there is something written in there. “vicarius filli dei” meaning "vicar of the son of God” Vicarius filli dei = 666. v=5, i=1, c=100, summing up to 666. In 2012, there will be a horrible incident. It’s not the end of the world though but there will be a chain of terrifying incidents in which many people would die. There is something that is coming near the earth, but NASA wasn’t telling us about this, because they don’t want us to panic. The elites already know about this and they already have their own underground project. There is a possibility that only the elites would survive. They would hide in their “underground” place. “Einstein already warned us about this. Pole shifting that will cause heavy disasters, disasters that had never happened before.” Then what should we do? “We should repent, ask God's forgiveness, keep the Faith, and ask Jesus to be our saviour.” So if we’ll die, our souls will be saved. But we should always be ready. Keep in mind that when the time comes that there is already the New World Order and we’re forced to have ourselves marked, we should not give up our faith. Remember that it’s just our flesh. “May kamatayan ang laman pero ang kaluluwa wala.” This means that if you’re in hell, you’ll experience the eternal burning of your soul. You will suffer eternally.

When he told me about this, I don’t know what to feel. I don’t know if I should believe the accusations or not. Maybe it’s true and maybe not. But if this is true, I will never ever give my faith up. There is no way that I’ll let them mark my body with the number 666. I’d rather die.

*I wrote this when I was in third year high, so pardon me for some grammatical errors.

I. A. Title: The Tragedy of Macbeth

B. Director: Roman Polanski

C. Screenplay Writers: Roman Polanski and Kenneth Tynan

D. Principal Characters
King Duncan (Nicholas Selby) – The King of Scotland who was murdered by Macbeth.
Macbeth (Jon Finch) – A courageous general of King Duncan and the one who killed King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth (Francesca Annis) – The wife of Macbeth and the one who persuaded Macbeth to kill the King.
Banquo (Martin Shaw) – A general of King Duncan’s army and Macbeth’s closest friend.
Macduff (Terence Bayler) – He suspected Macbeth for the killing of the King. He is the one who killed Macbeth.
Malcolm (Stephen Chase) – Duncan’s eldest son. He fled to England after the death of the King.
Donalbain (Paul Shelley) – Duncan’s youngest son. He fled to Ireland after his Father’s death.
Ross (John Stride) – A messenger of King Duncan.
The Three Witches (Maisie MacFarquhar, Elsie Taylor, Noelle Rimmington) – The ones who prophesized the success and fall of Macbeth.

E. Settings:
Time: 16th Century
Place: Scotland
Situation:

II. PLOT

Three Witches are digging a hole and soon buried a severed hand. They are discussing about their meeting with Macbeth. Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis and Banquo, Macbeth’s closest friend are both generals of King Duncan. After defeating the army of Norway and Ireland led by Macdonwald, the Three Witches appeared to them. They prophesized that Macbeth would be the “Thane of Glamis”, the “Thane of Cawdor” and he shall “be king hereafter”. While they were wondering about the prophecies, Ross arrived with a message from the king. Ross informed Macbeth that is now the Thane of Cawdor. The prophecy came true and Macbeth’s desire for power began.

Macbeth told his wife about the prophecies. King Duncan was staying at Macbeth’s Castle at Inverness and Lady Macbeth planned about the murdering of the King. She persuaded Macbeth to do the murdering. Then Macbeth killed King Duncan. Lady Macbeth put bloody daggers beside King Duncan’s servants to frame them up. In the next morning Macduff arrived and Macbeth leads them to King Duncan’s chamber. Macbeth ordered the servants to be killed. Macduff already suspected Macbeth for the killing. Malcolm fled to England and Donalbain to Ireland. And because the sons of the King were gone, Macbeth claimed the throne because of his relation to the King.

Even he is now the king, Macbeth still worried about the prophecy of the Witches about Banquo. He then ordered Banquo and Fleance, his son, to be killed. Banquo was killed but Fleance escaped. At the banquet, Banquo’s and King Duncan’s ghosts appeared to Macbeth. In terror, Macbeth said things that lessen up his guiltlessness.

Because of the happenings, Macbeth went to the witches. The spirits told him to beware Macduff, but also none of woman born shall harm Macbeth and he will not be vanquished until Great Birnam wood to high shall come against him. In fear of Macduff, he ordered the killing of everyone in Macduff’s castle. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks washing imaginary bloodstains in her hands because of her guilt. Meanwhile in England, Macduff and Malcolm planned an invasion of Scotland. Macduff
lead their army in the woods to Macbeth’s castle. The battle started and Macduff confronted Macbeth. Macbeth told Macduff that he is not fearing him because he cannot be killed by any man born of a woman. But Macduff told him that he was born by Caesarean section. Then a fight started and Macbeth was beheaded by Malcolm. Malcolm became the king and he restored the peace in his kingdom.

III. COMMENTS

Performance of the Characters

Portraying a play written by William Shakespeare is not that easy. You have to consider all the aspects of the play to be able for you to bring up the real essence and beauty of it. For me, all the characters acted well. Jon Finch and Francesca Annis did their role very well, especially Jon. Jon’s role in acting as Macbeth is uneasy but he did it. He acted like a real general envying and aspiring for power. Francesca also did very well. Her acting as Macbeth’s wife was very effective. She effectively played as a loving wife but also a woman that is thirsty for power and luxury. Nicholas Selby as King Duncan was also great. His posture and his way of speaking made me feel and see that he is the king. I also liked Stephen Chase playing the role of Malcolm. Especially when he fought with Macbeth and beheaded him. All the soldiers and servants that fought were also great. Their fight scenes look real. Not like those scenes I have watched that looked like a scripted and a practiced fight.

Relevance of the Settings

Incidents

Language and Tone

The language of the film is English. Honestly, I cannot understand what they are saying. I just keep an eye on the scenes for me to follow the flow of the story. Their accent in speaking is very different from the ones who live in America. Well, even I already know that the way of speaking in England and Scotland is different from the Americans, I was still puzzled and a little bit shocked. I just can’t believe that I cannot understand them. They speak very fast and they are
slang. Sometimes they speak too soft, that I can barely hear them.

Costume

Their costumes were great. Their clothing was very appropriate to be used in the play “Macbeth”. The different style and designs of their costumes signify the different roles of the actors. King Duncan’s costume was so beautiful and because of it, viewers easily knew that he was the King of Scotland. The clothes of Generals and officials were different from the soldiers and servants. As I was saying, their costumes helped the viewers in distinguishing the characters and their roles. Their costumes also helped in bringing the viewers into a different world in a different period of time, in the 16th century.