Where's the Patis?

Where's the Patis? was written by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil. She is a Filipino journalist, author, historian, and public servant. Patis is the number one condiment that is used here in the Philippines. It is used for sinigang and other Filipino dishes. Only the Philippines have the Patis which also called as Fish Sauce.

Carmen Nakpil used travel to compare the Filipino's dream and their stomach. I agree with the Carmen Nakpil because Filipinos love to travel but still there will come a time that they will miss the taste of the Sinigang with the Patis. Filipinos can change the way they talk, walk, or eat but they still cannot change the food that they want to taste especially when it involves the Patis. This means that even though Filipinos travel around the world, they will still miss the taste and surroundings of the Philippines.

People might not agree with the message. People might think that Filipinos can adjust to the food they eat but still they will still miss the taste of the Patis. The value I learned in this essay is that we should always cherish the things we have because there will come a time that all of this will be gone. An example would be a Filipino who loves travel the world but because of the food he tasted. He will surely miss the food that is being served here in the Philippines.

This essay is written in order to let people know that there will come a time that there is one thing that we will always crave for and will miss. We will anything in order to attain that thing that we crave for. 

Coca-Cola: The OFW Project

Coca-Cola is known for sharing happiness to others. This year, they have decided to share happiness to other through OFWs. There are many Overseas Filipino Workers that tried their luck abroad and sacrificed their own happiness for the future of their family. That is why Coca-Cola chose 3 OFWs to let their family bond with them by sending them to Philippines. Each of them has their own stories to tell. 

The first one is Joe Marie Ballon. He is a X-ray Technologist. He cannot go home to the Philippines because his father got sick and is almost blind so instead of using the money for travel, he sends it to his family here in the Philippines for his father's treatment. His relatives were all surprised when he showed up in their family lunch. It was sad because he only wish to come home before his father completely loses his sight.

Second, her name is Leonie Villanueva. She's a caregiver. She cannot travel home because her family is only depending on her especially her children. She said that winter season is always the hardest because she need to travel even though it is cold. When she got home, her daughter was surprised because they were not expecting her to come home during Christmas.

Lastly, his name is Joey Doble. He is a babysitter abroad. He haven't gone home for 11 years already. He left his 1 year old son here in the Philippines. He first went to his son's school to visit him. He was already 12 years old. It was sad because 11 years of sacrifice in order to let their children have a bright future ahead. He also bought a wedding ring for his wife because he haven't gotten his wife a nice wedding ring ever since their marriage. 

I was happy because even though Coca-Cola is known through sharing happiness through a bottle of sodas yet they managed to share happiness through send the OFWs home to their families. People might not believe in this commercial because they believe that it is all for publicity. This message was being sent as a wake-up call to others who have their families with them right now. Families of the OFWs suffer because one of them must live in order for them to sustain their needs. Open Happiness, Open Coca-Cola!

3 Idiots

The movie "3 idiots" is a comedy-drama Indian movie that was released in the year 2009. It was directed by Rajkumar Hirani, a famous director in India. This movie is based on the novel "Five point someone" written by Chetan Bhagat, he is an Indian author. The story is all about three friends who entered Imperial College of Engineering, one of the best colleges in India, in order to acquire a degree in Engineering. Each of them have their own life story and reasons why they studied in that university. One of them is Farhan Qureshi, he wants to be a wildlife photographer but due to his father's demand, he was sent to Imperial College of Engineering to become an engineer. The other one is Raju Rastogi, he was sent to Imperial College of Engineering in order to support his family in the future. He was the only hope of his family and lastly, Ranchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad, an intelligent student who wants to be an engineer in the future. These three boys were roommates in the University then became best friends. There are four things that caught my attention while watching the movie.

The first one that attracted my attention is the title itself because I thought in the beginning that 3 idiots is named as it is because the characters are dumb but I was wrong. 3 Idiots was named as it is because “3” symbolizes as the number itself because they are three people and “idiots” because of the things that they did during their college life, the pranks and all. I think there are messages that are being conveyed in the movie that is similar in real life like the pressure we feel and that we must believe in ourselves.

People might think that this movie is made to insult Indians but that where you are wrong. “Do not judge a book by its cover” that is the thing that you need to remember. The message of the movie was being sent in order to let people know that there are things in life that are positive and not all things are negative in this world. Always remember that All is well.

The second one that caught my attention is that people pull their pants down. In the first part of the movie, the senior students commands the freshmen students to pull their pants down and show their underwear as a sign of respect to the seniors. I think this is a sign of respect to the person who slaps their butt. Before they slap the butt of the person, the person who had his underwear shown will first say “Your majesty, thou art great. Accept this humble offering.”

Third, students commit suicide due to the pressure that was given to them. In one of the scenes in the movie, there is one student who approached their College Dean in order to ask when he can pass his project and to be able to graduate because he will be the first engineer in his village and all of them are excited. The Dean answered that he cannot pass the project because it is already due long time ago. The student asked for an extension for the deadline because he lost his track due to his father’s illness. The dean said that it is not an excuse for not submitting his project on time. The Dean asked the student to call his Father and let him talk to the Dean. The student followed the Dean’s order and called his father. The Dean said to the Father that his son cannot graduate this year because he violated all the deadline. The student threw his project away but Rancho wants to help the student by improving the student’s work. He spent all his time in improving the helicopter an installed cameras on it in order to be a flying camera but when the time that project was already done, he was supposed to surprise the student by flying it to the room of the student and yet what they found out is that the student committed suicide due to the pressure that was given to him by the Dean and the system of the school. There is also another scene when Raju was pressured by the dean and decided to jump off the third floor of the building. This led him to coma, his friends never left his side especially Rancho.

The last one is the saying “All Is Well”. Rancho believed that everything will be alright. He is an optimistic person who view the world in a positive way. He sacrificed everything for his friends. Even though no one knows what will happen in the future, we must always believe that “All is well”. When we say “All is well” it means that we give ourselves the courage to face our fears.