Beautiful Me Is But Skin-Deep

OK the Season is upon us again and while we make the most of Christmas in the desert it is also the time to take stock of the entire year and prepare for the new one. I've been thinking, procrastinating really, about how everything can now be bought in a nice little bottle or obtained via pain-free (or so they say) and non-invasive, clinical procedures. Take botox treatments and skin whitening solutions, fat removal and wrinkle free injections...the list goes on and on. But while we toil and work to afford these new luxuries brough about by new scientific discoveries, shouldn't we really be more concerned about building a better world instead of a better-looking one?

To no one in particular, I ask, "What's the point of a beautiful you, fairer skin and youthful glow and all when deep down you're a dried-up, self-centered, egotistic and sorry little person who cares more for appearances rather than substance?" Your friends all probably look a great a you do, have all the fancy gadgets that you all use, go to all the glitzy places the rich and famous hang out in...and yet, where it counts, you are still as lonely and craving for all that attention (probably why you went for all those bodily augmentations in the first place!).

The thousands you spend could have been put to better use had you donated it to orphaned children or help those who need medical treatments but cannot afford them. The joy in your heart would have made you glow and look immaculately beautiful from within and think about the lives you've touched and changed.

To the many who are always on the lookout for the fountain of youth, delaying the inevitable, stopping ageing and slowly turning into wax sculptures like those famous ones at Madame Tussaud's...I ask this, "What's the point of delaying the inevitable?" Death comes to us all and rather than stop it like that stupid brothers in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, welcome it by leaving seeds of good deeds that will, according to Maximus in Gladiator, "echo through eternity."

What's the use of adding say 10 or 15 more years to your life making you reach the good 100 years old when you cannot even move without painkillers or fracturing a hip bone? You may look flawless and wrinkle free but how do you stop memory loss? What fun would it be living that long when all your friends and loved ones have all gone ahead? You'd feel like the repeater at school, left behind because they didn't pass the grade. It's a cycle. It begins and it ends. Simple. Get that through your botox-treated forehead!

And what is wrong with a few wrinkles anyway. Those magazine models get Photoshop-ed so they look the way they do. Wrinkles are life's badges, you wear them proudly to show a really happy moment or one of the saddest memory you have that has changed you forever. They are the manifestations of the many joys, laughters, tears and sorrows, the everyday worries you have had through your life. They do not make you look ugly, they make you look experienced. Full of wisdom and an elder who takes a high honour in what used to be simple societies. Now our elders wear the surprised, tightly-pulled faces of the obviously clinically altered, many cannot even smile geniunely at all. What's wrong with a wrinkled, round, huggable and lovable, ancient-looking (and wise!) grandma or gramps anyways?

No wonder our world is at the mess it's in today. Many of our adults have gone completely mental trying so hard to look good, stay young, stop death.

The son of God knew his death was coming the moment he was born. The reason for all that rejoicing was the fact that his death will save us all. And while tummy tucks and botox treatments and age-reversing agents weren't available way back then...his beauty continues to shine through up to now because he struggled for a better world and not a better-looking one.

How I wish they'd develop a pill that would make everyone good, amiable, kind and generous. Now that would have been the perfect Christmas present to families and friends. I'd definitely want and need one!

Survivor Philippines Celebrity Edition

I've always been a fan of Survivor and have followed the first two Philippine editions and now the third is huge as it is the celebrities trying to outlive, outwit and outwit one another to survive. I've miss the first two episodes but have religiously followed the rest and I'm totally hooked!

I'm impressed with Mama Elma Muros and Solenn Heussaf and also Aira Bermudez. These three women are from different backgrounds but they have many things in common. They are the epitome of the modern Filipina: strong physically, beautiful inside and out, with infallible morality that they stand out from the rest.

The recent challenges, I've noticed that Jon who seems to be always spot on in knowing what to do has appeared to be "weakening" first forgetting to bring their tools to a challenge that clearly told them that they will have to dig for something.

Secondly is why did they let Aubrey sit out when she was the perfect person to do the "Walang Tulugan" reward challenge? Everyone knew Mama Elma sleeps early so why didn't they let her sit it out? At least Aira was honest to say she cannot handle it and was then allowed to sit out the challenge.

I think Mama Elma, Solenn and Aira should form an alliance. Mico should join them so their Survivor journey would be extended.

I like Akihiro, he's just too nice! I wonder if that's his strategy and we'll see the "dark side" later. But for now, he's the one I'd like to get stuck with in an island :)