Last month, Carlo’s teacher sent the following photos to my grandfather. Carlo and the rest of his classmates went to Warwick Castle to have a short visit. I can say that my brother is now a certified lakwatsero and it seems like this blog will be transformed into a travel blog soon

Anyway, I am really happy that my brother is now able to travel and appreciate the beauty of his current home. Way back, he has limited place to go to in Dagupan. You’d see him and Ate Virgie at the City Park, at the University Campus or in the market (yes, he loves to go to the market). The first photo with the peacock is just priceless. He giggles like a little kiddo

Up next: Carlo’s pictures from Drayton Manor Park and Zoo!

I am also planning of making a slideshow with my Enchanted Kingdom photos and Carlo’s amusement park photos

Here’s Carlo’s short email message for Lolo:

hellio         lolo

i am a g oold  vboy  ii likred the food shjow i always say cheessde on pictures.  h j y    9opiuhhgffddss 

There are the photos attached in the email. I really can’t believe my baby brother is now in his puberty stage! Good-looking guy, isn’t he?

No matter how cheesy this photo looks like, this is priceless for me

I was able to talk to my mom awhile ago and I heard my brother singing Lady Gaga’s Poker Face at the background. His voice is still the same. I really miss him.

All I can do by now is reminisce:

11 Years of Laughter, 11 Years of Joy – This entry was written when I was still in Dagupan. We went to his school to give his classmates a Jollibee treat. As expected, he ate a lot. It was a heartwarming experience for me because it was the first time I was able to mingle with his schoolmates.

Someone’s turning 12 years old! – We were in Manila when we celebrated his 12th birthday. We went to Greenwich and had a little Pizza siesta.

Carlo’s 13th Birthday – My brother became a part of the “teens” group. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to witness this event in his life. My mom and some of her friends managed to give my baby brother a simple birthday party – Filipino style.

Despite the distance, I am planning to celebrate my brother’s birthday too. I might go to one of his favorite fastfood chains and eat there with a friend or alone. Oh well. I miss my brother.

BTW, here’s a funny conversation that took place after I talked to mom:

Me: Hi Carlo! Happy Birthday!
Carlo: Pizza, Chicken Joy, Spagetti!
Me: Ay, wag naman ganyan. Di ako delivery girl.
Carlo: I Love You Forever.

And that made me smile

I received a forwarded email from my grandfather this afternoon. Sharon, Carlo’s teacher is constantly sending updates about him and we are really happy about it. I really smiled when I saw the attached photos of my brother taken during a bowling event. Oh my, my brother is no longer a kid!

Here’s the message of Carlo’s teacher:

Hi Mr Rodriguez,
Thank you for the pictures we printed them off for Carlos he smiled when he saw the pictures of yourself and your wife. He gave Micas’ pictures a kiss and then put them all in our cupboard under some books. We are not sure why he put them there we think he probably thought that was a safe place for them. Today I showed him the picture of you and told him who we were writing to.

 Carlos has certainly grown since he came here last May, we all thought he had but seeing those pictures you can really see how tall he has become and how much slimmer he is, he is now looking so grown up.

 I have attached a photo of Carlos take on 13th Feb when we went on a class treat day to the local bowling alley. Carlos had a great time he was jumping around everywhere, I was worried a couple of times that the bowling ball was going to go in the wrong direction but he managed to do it ok. He waited patiently for his turn and played the whole game. He did enjoy taking different members of staff up to the coffee bar and taking sachets of sugar and bringing them back to his seat. He certainly makes us smile everyday.

 
 Well we had better get back to our work
 We will write to you soon.
 
 Carlos and Sharon

 

Here are the photos:

My little brother is now a teenager. I wonder how tall he is. 

I miss you Carlobobet!

Jehzeel Laurente Photo Credit: Ada Lajara

The first topic that came into my mind is autism. You probably know that the reason why. In my whole lifetime, I haven’t seen a single Filipino movie whose main topic is dealing with autism.

As a sister to a special yet cuddly boy named Carlo, I decided to write a script about the life of having an autistic sibling – the joys, the pains, the sacrifices, the LOVE.

I wrote a script comprising of 18 pages and a number of sequences. The story basically tackles the love and bond between a special elder brother who loves to draw and listen to music and a younger sister who is torn between staying for the sake of her brother and pursuing her dream.

Last year, I made a blog post looking for volunteer cast and production members. I considered a female celebrity friend for the lead female role. Due to time constraints and corporate life, I wasn’t able to push through with the shoot ASAP.

Buddy Gancenia, Josh Liao, Mica Rodriguez and Cai Abbass Photo Credit: Ada Lajara

In May 2008, I attended a short lecture on Video Editing at Discovery Suites and the lecturer was Philippine Wedding Videographer Buddy Gancenia. I was amazed on his works specifically on how unique his concepts are in wedding coverage. The set-up, the interviews, the wedding ceremony, the reception, the works, the aftermath of every wedding is unique from their other clients. I, a struggling writer/director approached him and his lovely wife about the camera. They both agreed to help me out with my project. I think they liked the concept.

Lizz Buenaventura, Mica Rodriguez, Josh Liao and Cai Abbass Photo Credit: Luis Buenaventura

One of the respondents who showed interest in helping out with the short movie is Josh a.k.a. Joyful Chicken of ChickenMafia.com. I asked him again and he said that he is really interested in helping out and he wants to direct his own short movie soon. Later on, he told me that his girlfriend, Lizz Buenaventura will go with him to help too. Waaah little did I know that Lizz is really an artist! Weeee. T’was nice to see a lovely couple on the set

Cai Abbass and Jehzeel Laurente Photo Credit: Carl Valenzona

In June 2008, I took a picture of Cai and Jehz at the Coke event at Taste Asia. Though they were not really that close during those times, I saw the chemistry between them. Cai, who is a director of three wonderful short films was originally appointed as my assistant director. Jehz was a new blogger friend whom I easily liked due to his child-like personality and how appreciative he is in a lot of things. I took their picture and I said “Mukha kayong magkapatid”. They both smiled.

After a few weeks, I mentioned to them that I am considering them for the role of the Arcilla siblings. Cai was a bit hesitant because she is more comfortable working behind the scenes. Jehz was a bit more open and I got excited when I found out that he is a true artist when he showed me one of his works back in high school.

Since then, I took pictures of them or ask my other blogger friends to take lots of photos of them together. I saved them in my USB and had it printed. I asked them to pose as if they’re real siblings and they gamely obliged to my requests. We even had a happy nightout last All Saints Day

Jehzeel Laurente Photo Credit: Ada Lajara

For some reason, I saw Carlo in Jehzeel. I wrote a post about it here three months ago and when my grandparents saw him after the shoot, they all agreed that they can see the loving Carlo in him – cheerful, playful and innocent.

Carl is a good photographer friend of mine. He was supposed to play one of the important roles in the movie, but he had some prior commitments. I am thankful because he arrived on time (and left on the wrong time LOL) yet he managed to take some good pictures and he taught us how to swim haha

Ada Lajara, Cai Abbass, Mica Rodriguez and Maki Eduardo Photo taken by Carl Valenzona

I asked a number of blogger friends to play the support characters. I chose Ada to play the role of the boyish cousin. The happy thing there is she did execute her scenes perfectly. Her role might be short, but you will remember her character.

Jehzeel Laurente and Ed Arevalo Photo By: Ada Lajara

Some of the ‘accidental’ cast members are Ed and Jhelo. I texted Ed a night before the actual shoot when another friend backed out the last minute. I am happy because Ed promised to help me out with the project as long as he is free on the day of the shoot. He helped us out during breaks too. Jhelo, who dropped by the shoot mainly just to accompany Ada became an instant replacement. His character in the short movie is short yet funny. He’s wearing his uniform pa LOL.

Winston Almendras and Jehzeel Laurente Photo Credit: Carl Valenzona

Winston was not my first choice for the role since he was originally based in Davao City. He played the role of the pretentious suitor who later on got what he deserved. Winston had a lot of commitments that weekend, but I insisted that he must join the shoot. Thank God he did because you will see a rebellious yagit here LOL.

Jehzeel Laurente and Cai Abbass Photo Credit : Carl Valenzona

Ate Sire and Lenny played a worth gossiping role LOL. The former brought in some Maki for Jehz and I asked her to appear on the movie a night before the second day of the shoot. She said yes though she’ll be a bit late. Ate Lenny didn’t like the idea of appearing in the short movie, but since Carl left the last minute, I needed her help and she had no choice LOL.

And oh, I appeared as the best friend of Cai in the short movie. Hindi ito sinasadya LOL.

Me and "other" siblings Photo Credit: Ada Lajara

I am happy because we were able to finish the shoot for two days. Thanks to the guidance of Sir Buddy. I learned a lot from him from the different angles, the audio, the production design, the technical stuff, the creative team, the budget and a lot more. No wonder I can hear nothing but all praises from his friends and clients. He is a passionate videographer and he is a bit strict hehe

Yihee Photo By Luis Buenaventura

I would like to thank my dear friend Louis for letting us shoot on your house. I know you were dead tired that day and lacked some sleep. Teehee. Thanks to my grannies for letting me use the condo. Please do not charge me for the next electric billing. Thanks to Angel Juares, Maki Eduardo and Luis Buenaventura for the support and the pictures weee

For the meantime, I would like to share this “blurry” aftermath video. Sinadya ko yan haha

Mama with Carlo showing his close-up picture

My brother had his much-deserved hair cut three days before the screencaps were taken. I don’t really like the idea of seeing him wearing a long hair.

Through the photos, I realized that Carlo is growing up looking like our dad. Waaaah. He’s such a cutie!

Mama and Carlo

Carlo with Ate Virgie

Carlo and Ate Virgie recently celebrated their first year in England. Woah. It’s been a year already!

When will I see them again? Hmmm… In due time

Most of my classmates in the scriptwriting class became busy with their respective careers. Only 1 out of 7 was able to transform her script into a short movie.

I wrote a script that has something to do with a sister’s love for her autistic brother. Sounds familiar?

I am really excited because I’ll be producing and directing a short movie for the first time. I am happy because some of my friends agreed to act and help out in the production for free. We will be having our shoot this weekend and hopefully we’ll be able to finish it asap.

I wouldn’t narrate the flow of the story here, but contrary to most autism movies made by movie makers who hasn’t experienced autism at all, my story is full of love, passion and honesty. I can’t wait!

Last Christmas, I spent the whole vacation break with Carlo – We went to his favorite fast foods together, we took lots of pictures, we watched lots of movies via my laptop, we wrapped and opened some gifts and ate a lot.

This year is kinda different for me. I spent the christmas with lolo and lola at the condo. We went to church to attend the mass first then went straight home. We ate our noche buena and I called my mom afterwards. Obviously, Carlo is enjoying Christmas in England. My mom told us that he received a lot of gifts and as expected, he re-wrapped all of them LOL.

Last night, I spent the new year at my room. Yes, I slept the whole day. I woke up to eat Sinigang na Hipon for lunch then went back to bed and woke up again at 6pm. I ate Pansit Malabon for dinner the slept again. Lolo and Lola went to Lolo Victor’s house and I decided not to go with them because I wasn’t feeling well.

At 10pm, I called them up at England and my, my brother has a new laptop!

Yes, my brother has a laptop na!

Mama said that Carlo remembered his Ate when he saw the gadget “Ate Mica! Ate Mica!”. I cried, of course.

Honestly, I am going through a lot of stress right now. The fact that I couldn’t hug him on my down times can be a bit frustrating.

Oh well. Maybe its about time that I fix the papers and leave the country.

Last Wednesday, I attended an event at CTBL and met Ms. Cristina of the Autism Society Philippines ( will blog about the organization and the simple sharing on my upcoming entries ).

I have here a list of 12 signs and symptoms if your child is autistic taken from the leaflet handed to me. For parents and siblings, I advise you to read and be accept the reality about the child’s condition once you find out that majority of the signs and symptoms are present.

No Pointing at 1 Year

- Usually, kids at such age would point at the objects they want or things that they want to do. Instead of pointing out to me that he wants to drink milk, he would try to destroy his crib and get the milk by himself.

No babbling by 1 year; no single words by 16 months; no two-word phrases by 24 months

- I remember him saying “Papa” and “Mama” when he was just eight months old. When he celebrated his first birthday, his speech development stopped. It took him a long while before he managed to say a “real” word or phase without us forcing him to speak.

Any loss of language skills at any time

- Like what happened in item #2, his language skill development stopped all of a sudden.

No pretend playing

- Little kids love to play as if they’re adults working in an office or curing patients in the hospital. When I was young, I pretended to be a doctor, teacher and a pop star. Carlo was just there. Just there.

Little interest in making friends

- When he was first enrolled in a regular school, he would rather play by himself than mingle with other kids. He was a bit anto-social and only mingled with his teacher.

Extremely short attention span

- He is impatient. You can never make him wait or else he’ll throw tantrums.

No response when called by name, indifference to others

- Because of this, we first concluded that my brother has hearing problems. We would call him by his name but he won’t respond. Once a doctor insisted he has hearing defects, but how come he reacts whenever he hears the jingle of his favorite commercial?

Little or no eye contact

- Sometimes, I would force him to look at me in the eye. Unfortunately, he never did look at me the way I instructed him to do.

Repetitive body movements, such as hand clapping and rocking

- Repetitive open and close of doors, scanning of magazines, hand clapping and more.

Intense tantrums

- He usually throws tantrums if he’s getting impatient especially in restaurants and other public places.

Fixations on a single object, such as spinning fan

- Aircon, jackstones, tennis ball, shapes etc.

Unusually strong resistance to changes in routines

- He hates change of plans. We must stick to his daily routines or else he’ll get upset at times.

So those are the signs and symptoms of autism. If you think that majority of the mentioned details are present to your child, better do something about it ASAP.

And assumptions were true LOL. Carlo is a real music lover. He can actually memorize the tune of a song in just one sitting.

Before he left, I check the play count of my iPod. I laughed out loud when I found out that he keeps on listening to a certain song a hundred times. What do I mean with the statement? Here’s an example

Mi Chico Latino – Geri Halliwell – + Play Count : 15

Lovey Dovey Stuff – Geri Halliwell – + Play Count: 267

Hehehe huge difference, right?

I jotted down his top 5 favorite songs on my iPod before I gave it to him. Too bad he’s not using it in England. He’s busy playing with the drumset and the radio hehe

1. Lovey Dovey Stuff – Geri Halliwell 

2. Super Noypi – Sandwich

3. Seven Black Roses – Chicosci

4. Zaido – Sandwich

5. Wishing on a Star – Beyonce