Kahinaan at Kalakasan

Nanghihina ang aking buong katawan! Halos hindi ko kayang maglakad sa loob ng manukan kaninang umaga upang alamin ang kalagayan ng aking mga alaga.

Alas-sais ng gabi kahapon ng bigla kong naramdamang ako’y nagsimulang manghina. Naibalita kasi sa telebisyong US$ 0.66 nalang ang halaga ng isang Australian dollar, binanggit pang US$ 0.96 ito noong nakalipas na Hulyo. Agad kong inalam ang palitan ng piso sa Au$. P31: Au$1 nalang, samantalang noong Hulyo ay umabot ito ng P42.

Bakit ganito? Hindi ko alam kung dapat ba akong matuwa dahil lumalakas na ang piso, o kung may karapatan ba akong malungkot dahil humihina na ang halaga ng salaping aking kinikita?

Kahit medyo mahina ako sa Math, napakahilig ko talagang mag-convert. Halimbawa, kapag bumili ako ng isang sakong bigas (5 kilo) sa Asian Store, Au$15 ang halaga nito. Ibig sabihin, P630 ito noong July, P465 nalang ito ngayon! Dapat ba akong matuwa?

Hindi ako ekonomista kaya hindi ko lubusang maipaliwanag sa aking sarili ang mga kasalukuyang pangyayari sa pandaigdigang merkado. Basta ang alam ko, trabaho lang dapat ako ng trabaho. Araw-araw kailangan kong panatilihing malusog at busog ang aking mga alagang manok. Hindi naman pwedeng bawasan ko ang oras ng aking trabaho dito sa manukang ito dahil P31 nalang ang palitan. Parang ayaw ko pa rin namang bumalik sa Pilipinas ngayon dahil lumalakas na ang halaga ng piso kontra Au$.

Kahit naghihina ang aking buong katawan, kailangan kong ipakitang ako’y may kalakasan! Bibili nalang ako ng masustansiyang mga pagkain at saganang suplay ng multivitamins. Mura lang naman ito ngayon, kapag i-convert.

Skin Matters

It’s only mid-spring but the sun is brightly shining and the temperature is uncontrollably rising! Actually, you’ll never think it's springtime because it actually feels like summertime.

Australian sunrays are skin-penetrating these days so I decided to take a sunscreen lotion at work this morning. After a 5-minute biosecurity shower, I started applying it on the parts of my skin which are exposed to the harmful sunshine. While doing it, my Australian workmate said that he doesn’t need it.

I HAVE ANOTHER STORY about my white Australian workmates in my previous job (a layer farm) in Southeast Queensland. While we [the Asians (Filipinos and Chinese)] were doing everything we could to avoid the sunshine, these white people would love to display themselves, half-naked, under the sun during smoko* break just to achieve their desired skin tan. I don’t know if they had worn their sunscreen protection before doing it; how I wish they did.

Being a foreigner who has just arrived in this land, I was so excited to tell my ‘white’ friends that back in the Philippines the use of a wide range of whitening products has already been part of our lifestyle! I enumerated these—the whitening soap, whitening lotion, whitening cream, whitening facial cleanser, whitening facial scrub, whitening facial wash, etc.

They were, actually, surprised to know about this because Australian shops are, obviously, not selling whitening beauty products! It is, indeed, very ironic that white-skinned people want a brown (copper?) complexion, while those who are naturally brown choose to 'peel their skin off' just to become white! [I also added that in the Philippines, white chicken eggs are much preferred than brown eggs. They were shocked again, because we were producing a million of brown eggs every day in that farm!]

Yes, I am promoting the use of sunscreen products. Whitening products? Well, if my fellow Filipinos back home are looking for some ways to cut their cost of living in order to cope with the high fuel and flour prices during this challenging period of global economic recession, may I suggest forgetting about these whitening products? It’s a big saving, I reckon.