Settembre?

1. August 31 was my teammate Vlam's last day at the office. I have to admit that it was sad to see him go because he wasn't just a great co-worker, but is also a great person. Last September 2, he invited us for a weekend trip to Fontana. Fontana was awesome, unfortunately, despite a weekend out-of-town trip, I still had to work all night till early morning :(

Good luck on your new career as a businessman, Vlam! :D

2. Our bundle, BI/DW(Business Intelligence/Data Warehousing), had our off-site team building last weekend at Lagos Del Sol in Lake Caliraya, Laguna. Lagos Del Sol was really beautiful. But despite the fact that it was our team-building, I again had to work (at midnight!)

3. Just got myself a cd of John Mayer's Continuum and Snow Patrol's Eyes Open. I am right now reading The Sandman Volume 2: Doll's House (it's one of the books I bought during Powerbooks' month-long sale). I spotted a hardback of The Wake (Sandman Vol 9) at Bibliarch in Glorietta 3 that I'm tempted to buy too. It's really expensive though, but The Sandman has always been my favorite indulgence, so I might just get a copy :D

4. I'm in the middle of a four-day break from work right now. It's so tough to shift from being a midnight DM to a regular working hour routine every week. I officially hate it.

5. I became a 1-year-old professional last Tuesday.

6. Two teammates of mine recently came back from Warsaw, Poland. Their trip was related to our (sub)team's transition to 24x7 application support hours.

The next few months should be interesting.

At least a title. No?

Just got a small quick sneak peak of The Killers' latest single from their new record here. I must say I'm pretty excited about this... Do I hear some shades of Pink Floyd in the intro?

Damn amazing coolness. Goes right on top of my list of must-buys =D

Another must buy? Thom Yorke's first solo cd, The Eraser. Brings the sound of Bristol back to my head. Woohoo!

Public Service

Let's start the -ber months with some public service shit.

Bantay Bata 163 is a child welfare program of ABS-CBN Foundation that not only rescues and rehabilitates sick and abused children, but also provides shelter, therapy and quality home care for rescued children until they can be reunited with their families or referred to proper child-caring agencies.

Kids will always give their best smiles. But really, they need YOU. Click and take action now.

Children's Hour also provides so many easy ways to help children in need here in the Philippines. Please take the time to visit the site and find out how. Just a couple of clicks. :)

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As you may know, there has been a devastating oil spill off the coast of Guimaras Island, a small province in Western Visayas, after an oil tanker carrying a couple million tons of bunker fuel sank at sea. Like most other provinces in the Philippines, Guimaras relies alot on its environmental resources. There is a website that was recently put up to advertise Gumaras' need for assistance, called Project Sunrise. The site contains some info on the situation in Guimaras, and how you can help.

As of 20 August 2006, at least 4,000 coastal families have been directly affected by the spill. They are now experiencing food and water shortage because their livelihood have been crippled by the oil spill and groundwater have been rendered unsafe for drinking. Medicines, particularly for skin rashes and upper respiratory tract infections, are also needed by affected families. Provincial and municipal government funds are now running out.

oooh, and I missed it.

Two things that I regretfully missed last week:

Rockestra 2 (sniff) and the close view of Mt. Mayon's perfect cone spewing smoke and lava.

I couldn't find anyone to come with me and watch Rockestra, and I didn't really want to watch by myself (even though I knew some friends were also gonna watch, it still wasn't the same company, you know... being the third wheel kinda gets awkward in some cases. Hehe) So I just did what any centavo-pinching guy would do. I watched them through youtube :))

Which brings me to one point I've been wondering about in and out for a couple of months now... If the past tense of catch is caught, then why isn't the past tense of watch, waught? It's a catchy word, donchathink?

Hey, I waught Rockstar Supernova last week. Boy, for being a supposed "Rock Legend Super Group", their original song sure did suck! ... The last movie I waught was Pirates of the Carribean. How bout you, what was the last movie you waught? ...

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My parents went to Bicol last Saturday to check out how Mayon Volcano is doing. See, may parents are volcanologist/geologist/construction magnates here in Manila and they're trying to see if they could use the solidified lava to build a new mall in the middle of the Manila Bay that would rival that other big mall near the bay (the Uniwide Mall in Coastal Road, if you really have to ask.) Of course they couldn't get close enough to the volcano because some jerk decided that there "has to be" a six km off-limits danger zone around the volcano. Must be working for the Sy's, those people...

But you know what else sucks? The batt of the cam that they brought ran out on them. So no lava samples, and no pics as well. Damn...

Het Augustus?

One thing I like about August?

August = month-long Powerbooks sale! Woohoo!

I'd post a wishlist here, but it's not even close to my birthday so I think I'll just let this one pass for now. (But hey, if you're up for giving me a gift for no apparent reason, then go right ahead!)

You know what else is coming up this August? Rockestra II! Last year, bands such as Imago, Cambio, Sandwich, Silent Sanctuary, Sugarfree, and Twisted Halo signed up to perform their songs with the Manila Symphony Orchestra. This year's event happens on August 18 at the Folk Arts Theater, featuring bands such as The Dawn (woohoo!), Hale (meh...), 6cyclemind(umm..), Itchyworms (woohoo), Urbandub (woooohoooo!) and Up Dharma Down! (wooooohoooooo!!!) 4 out of 6 bands is not so bad... and MSO should rawk the house fo sure!

Now all I have to do is look for people to come with me.


Ooooh, and to be on the safe side, if you are going to buy me something at powerbooks, something (anything) by Kurt Vonnegut or Irvine Welsh would be good =P

The Short Story and the Long Thought

One thing that sunk on to me recently: my job satisfaction is directly proportional to how well I do tasks. It's not really about the job description, the oppportunities that I get, or (at least for the moment) how much I get paid. It's about how well I do whatever it is that I do. In a sense, the less cleaning up I have to do, the happier I am. While that might be good from a certain standpoint because I can always claim that my hapiness (on the professional level) is solely dependent on my own efforts, a change of view should do a lot of good in assessing my career trajectory. Certainly, it is important to care about how well I do my work and to measure my fulfillment through the fruits of my efforts. However, the other side of the coin says that it's also important to just go back to the basics and think about what the hell I am doing and evaluate THAT.

I'm nearing the Year 1 milestone of my first job, and now I'm realizing that "so far so good" is just not a good enough answer to "How's your job?" anymore. I think now's the time to think hard about where I want to be and how do I take myself there. I haven't done something big and significant in a long while. Now's the time to clean up.

Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs

I put down what used to be my last bottle of beer
And picked up another one, said that I’m holding it
because it feels colder than how I prefer it to be.
I’m holding it tight to keep it nice and warm, so that no one else would want to drink it.
I like my hard drinks warm.
Because only those are the kind that kick me in the stomach.

I like how it tastes unbearably bitter
I like how it becomes a challenge all of a sudden
To finish one whole bottle in one long sip.
I like the way that it presents itself as a problem
I like my problems when they're warm.

or I don't. I suddenly can't distinguish the difference.

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I realize that laughter is a good way to relieve anxiety. The best way to get rid of anxious thoughts on the other hand would be the obvious: do it, the quicker the better. The only way out is through baby. Lesson learned (which is of course only half the battle.)

I hope I remember it well.

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I finally got a copy of Death Cab for Cutie's latest cd. I've been meaning to buy it ever since it came out here in the Philippines, but my "tightly screw your pockets" side of the brain (yes, unlike some people, I have more sides in my brain than the left and the right) said wait until the next payday, and the next payday, and the next payday, until months have passed and I've forgotten that I actually had to buy this album. Until I heard this song on the radio.

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

Death Cab. Vintage. Glad I have it now. I still have a lot more cds that I need to buy in the pipeline though. I wonder how long till my mental zip lock relents this time.

I am picky.

There are a lot of things that you will never get me to eat. Even if your life depended on it.

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Last weekend my high school friend Kate had her wedding, and the real awesome thing was that the wedding was held at our old high school. We came from a Catholic parochial school, so our Academy was managed by the local parish church. The church I'm talking about is an old Spanish-era church that houses the Bamboo Organ (the only one in existence anywhere in this world.) In fact, every year our school hosts the Bamboo Organ Festival, where classical musicians from other countries visit our school and play with the Organ with all their heart. The best thing about it, of course, is that we don't have classes on the first day of the Festival. But I digress.

Anywayz, congrats Kate and Eric! Have a good life ahead of you, and sorry for (gulp) being late :)

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I want to study a foreign language, but I'm not sure if I'll ever have free time for it. Is there a Czech/Slovakian Embassy here in Manila? Learning my Slavics should come in handy when I eventually meet Daniela and Nicole

Three cheers for those who did not waver!

Amelie!

Italia!

Roger!

To Commemorate The Hotness

My Boracay trip was in a word, AMAZING.

In 393 words? It's this:

This trip was a shorter visit compared to my first one last year (this time we arrived and departed via the Kalibo airport so that automatically used up around 4 hours of could've-been-on-the-beach-instead time). But you know, despite that, this trip was definitely not any less fun.

Main highlights of The Amazing Bora Trip were going parasailing and riding the Flying Fish! Parasailing was expensive very relaxing and man, what else can beat the great great great view from a parachute?

If parasailing was relaxing, the flying fish was anything but... You really have to hold on for your life out there (or at least that's how you have to think of it so that you won't get thrown out into the water.) It's hella fun and way more expensive exciting than Banana Boats, and I'm sure as hell gonna do it again the next chance I get.

The beach of course is as perfect as before. I still am amazed at how Bora's white sands are so fine, it's like your walking on confectionery sugar. Good thing I never got wasted enough to actually put them in my mouth. And no green algae too this time! (The one ugly thing I hated about my last Bora trip, the shorelines was covered with them green stuff. They apparently come and go in seasons too, along with the droves of beach goers in the tropical summer.) So this time, I was actually able to just lie down on the shore where the waves die out. THAT, was just nice.

And the sunset... Need i say more? And we almost missed it too. The first two days we were there, the sun was blocked by clouds so we couldn't take pics of it setting. On our last day, the clouds gave way enough for us to get about five minutes of photo op with the sunset. And wow, that is just a thing of beauty, isn't it?

What's great about coming to Boracay in June is that it's off-peak season, so you practically have the whole beach to yourselves. The nights are less lively though (except for Bombom, there was not alot of activities), but as long as you go there with great company, then the trip should still rock.

As I said, Bora was amazing, and I shall commemorate the hotness again next year.

Maybe I should be less considerate about people's right of way from now on.

Boracay on Wednesday! Damn excited! :D

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I got my new car about one and a half weeks ago, and I've been driving it for about a week now. All I have to say is, damn, I need more practice on fucking parking that thing. And damn, nagasgas ko na agad siya. I hate this fucking building right beside my house (I can see the building right now from our window. You, yes you, you damn fucking building you, I'm talking to you. Dahil sayo nagasgas ang side mirror ko. Bilang na ang araw mo. Ipagdasal mo na fire resistant ka.) Our driveway is so narrow since they built the freaking building so close to our street, I have no choice but to squeeze the car in as close to its wall as possible so that people will still be able to pass through on the other side. And because I am so considerate of other people's right of way, I got a little too close to the beige wall and now my car has a nasty scrape on its left side mirror. Shit. Maybe I should start being less considerate about people's right of way from now on.

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Aaaah!!! I hate this! Shit! I can't get over it! Damn you fucking building! It's all your damn fault! AAARGGH...

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I need something to make me feel better. I feel like Roger Federer on a French Open final. I guess the Bora trip came right on time.

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Last week, I gave a short presentation to my managers and some team leads in the office. It was a progress report (about my growth/stagnation/regression (whichever applies) as an office drone.) The reason I did it was because I was literally bullied into doing it by my fellow committee members. You see, I'm part of the committee that organized the whole event as part of an initiaitve in the office. Basically, we force our new teammates, upon their sixth month of being hired, to present to the managers and team leads about their growth/stagnation/regression (whichever applies) in the workplace. I wasn't supposed to present because I've been in the team for more than 6 months already, but my comm-mates were all (and I paraphrase): "You should do it, para naman merong isa sa atin na maka-experience magpresent, para makakuha tayo ng direct feedback on what to improve on in the process blah blah blah..." So me being the considerate person that I am (ahem), agreed.

Why am I writing about this? No reason really...

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Now that I've made a big deal about and was able to rant about something that's not really rant-able, I feel slightly better about the scraped side mirror thing. Cool. Thank goodness for defense mechanisms.

See you in a week

Charm Attack

The magic words of the moment are

Black Jazz

Galera Days / I Still Love Typhoons

Last weekend:

I went to Galera again (yep, second time this month) for some teambuilding activities with my (duh) teammates from work. I must say that this trip is much better than the first one, if you consider the simple creature comforts (such as having a place to sleep in) a major factor in rating your vacations.

We got there on a smooth Friday morning, and I was really pleasantly surprised that there were only a handful of people on the beach (as opposed to the number of people as seen in the entry below)... Oh yeah, this is what beaches should be... No annoying, noisy people getting pissed drunk, losing half their locomotor skills (Read: Me, three weeks ago.) No overcrowding of seashores and restaurants... Just a small army of you and your crew, the blue sea, the nice not-so-white sands of White Beach, and the small parts of the sun that was able to peek through the gray clouds.

The atmosphere was also very calm, owing probably to the effects of the huge typhoon that wrecked through the island. (Side note: there was no electricity in Puerto Galera at that time as power lines were knocked down. The island is still under a State of Calamity until now, so people, donate where you can, when you can.) It made the seas look calmer and bluer than what I remember it. You could even see some coconut tree leaves floating freely from the shore. All that made Puerto Galera look like this new-found beach in a nice piece of island far away from the urban towns of smoke and booze. Just nice.

(Yeah, I'm unnecessarily dramatic sometimes. Fuck off it.)

One of the first things that we did when we got there was to ride the banana boat. While we were signing up at the registration counter, rain start to pour. We were waiting for the banana boat to get back to the shore (it just started pulling its latest victims away when we got there), so we just lied down on the beach for a while watching out for thunders that followed the lightning. When it was finally our turn, it was still raining and man, that banana boat ride in the rain sure was fun. It was awesome too that the motorboat went well far away from the shore. Being in the middle of the sea made trying not to fall from the banana thing all the more exciting (on the other hand, I think we just established the record for fastest banana boat tip-over (less than 10 seconds from when the motorboat started going vzrooom.)

My point being -> Janis Joplin and Nick Drake rock. And so do typhoons.

p.s. We went back to Manila on Sunday morning, where we were welcomed back on the Batangas City Port by our officemate Geebee who prepared lunch for our party (Joseph, Karon and Me)

Later that day, Me and my family went to Intramuros' Patio Victoria to attend my cousin Iris' debut party. Happy 18th Iris!

Today, I withdrew the first batch of the 80% of money that I have on my payroll account. And I couldn't be more excited. =D

Galera Daze / I Love Typhoons

Two weeks ago I went to Puerto Galera with 7 of my officemates. (Ben, BJ, Daisie, Jan, Jyue, Mia, and Mike)

Mia has a very nice set of pictures from our trip over here. Mike meanwhile, has the rants of the trip going on right here.

Of course, if you want my short version of the story, then here it is. We arrived in Galera some minutes after 1 in the afternoon, 5 hours off our intended arrival time. Once we got there, our first task was to find a place to stay in, since we didn't reserve any room (despite the long May 1 weekend and kids on summer break from school, hey, we were feeling adventurous!)

Short story of it was that we failed in task#1 (we even tried renting a tent from this Italian guy but he said (in straight Tagalog) that he was out of tents as well), and as we were hungry and dead tired, we just decided to cut our losses and go to another beach where we thought there would be less people. That desperation move took us two barangays away from our original destination (White Beach) to the more obscure, less populous Talipanan Beach (It's the beach beside Aninuan Beach, which is the beach on the left of White Beach if you're facing the sea.) What I like about Talipanan is that it offers you basically the same beautiful beach (arguably better), but without all the noise and business of White Beach. (Another nice beach in Puerto Galera is the one in Big La Laguna. From what I remember, beach there is finer and whiter than in White Beach)

One word about Talipanan and Aninuan: Awesome!

The next day, we went back to White Beach to experience the Galera summer. And oh man, did we ever experience it! Galera with 4 pitchers of Mindoro Sling whacks you in the head pretty damn hard, I tell you.

The only thing I didn't like about this trip was that Galera was way too damn crowded. Literally filled to the brim.

The next day, we were on our way back to Manila when Joseph called us up and invited us to meet up with him in Makati for lunch and some other things. We obliged of course and met up with him at the Ayala malls, despite still being in our beach clothes. It was his 28th birthday, after all. Haha.

Over all, it was a fun, not perfect but great nonetheless, weekend.

Now I'm back in Manila, working on weekends in front of my laptop. Life is a balancing act, agree?

One thing that perks me up however is that it's finally the start of the rainy season. I love it when it rains. Temperature is moderately cool, and come on admit it, walking on the streets with the slight pouring of rain on your head, sun hiding behind gray clouds, is always fun. At least that's how I feel.

The rainy season made a big entrance this year with a pretty mad typhoon (Named Caloy by the local weather bureau.) I love typhoons and the huge amount of rain and nasty wind they bring. The only thing I hate about them is sometimes, they come with a death toll.

Which brings me to another point. If you are still reading this blog up to here, please donate to charity. (Wala lang, just thought I'd say it.)


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Oh, and it's Mother's Day today right? Happy Mother's day to my mom (who doesn't read this), and to all the mom's out there (who do read this.) You rawk.

1 to 6

1. It's hard to stand by your principles if the ones you have are conflicting. Or shallow. Or both.

2. I got myself a pair of glasses a couple of weeks ago. I wear it for full geek effect.

3. Going to the beach next weekend! Woohoo! (Even if I had to be a little a sneaky to my team lead to get his permission.. hahaha)

4. I need to renew my driver's license soon coz It's gonna expire soon... I hope I don't fail the drug test... =)

5. The parents went to the Hundred Islands in Pangasinan last Holy Week holiday, and I got to see some of the pictures they took of the place, and I must say that that Hundred Islands thing, they look pretty good...

6. More wedding news: My cousin Kuya Renen is getting married next year! Him and the whole family in Chicago will be coming home for the wedding next year here in Manila. My other cousin Kuya Russ is also getting married very soon. Congrats! (and good luck, hehehe =D )

Take Me Out

I have to take a vacation soon. I can't believe I don't have any out-of-town beach trip planned in the next few months. I hate this. Somebody take me out.

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Last night, I had dinner with my college friends at NSG. We try to keep up with each other by having dinner once every two weeks. Earlier in the week I met up with some of my high school friends at the Starbucks place in Las Pinas, I try to meet up with them once every two months because I'm a lazy bastard (Heh.)The big news is that our friend Kate will be getting hitched soon (in the next few months of 2006)

Congrats Kate and Boyfriend/Future Husband! :)

(I was trying to lobby for the ring-bearer role but I think they already got some freakin kid for the part. Daymn.)

The Mysteries of the Universe, Pt. 1: I Got Tagged

PJ (man on the side) tagged me to answer this blog survey thing

And because it is such a convenient reason to post something on my blog, I post my answers below:

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Car Wash Boy
2. Some sort of programmer intern
3. Operations Duty Manager
4. WWMD (Worldwide Weapon of Mass Destruction) Application Contact

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (kicks ass)
2. Kung Fu Hustle (hee-larious)
3. Before Sunrise (ASTIG)
4. Empire Records (because.)

Four places you have lived in:
1. Gumaca, Quezon Province (where I was born)
2. Las Pinas City (the suburban traffic-jam-magnet hell where I live in now)
3. nowhere
4. else

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. The Amazing Race (Season 1 is still the best season)
2. Friends
3. House, MD
4. Uncanny X-MEN. Heh.
I'm missing a really good show here that I love to watch.

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Boracay (great place)
2. Sagada (great place)
3. Palawan (great place)
4. Hong Kong (this ws pre-Disneyland HongKong. It was good-ok)

Four websites I visit daily:
1. http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
2. http://mail.yahoo.com
3. http://www.pinoyexchange.com
4. http://www.tennis-x.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Beef Caldereta
2. Spaghetti in tomato sauce (or any pasta with tomato sauce actually)
3. Pork Adobo (with all the fat!!!)
4. White Cheese / Four Cheese Pizza

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. on top of the powdery white sands of Boracay
2. in a nice, cool place (that doesn't need the benefit of an air conditioner)
3. any beach that's nicer than Bora, and with less people
4. in a concert somewhere that's not in the Philippines

Four friends who I have tagged that I think will respond (because I will harrass them until they post something like this in their blogs too)
1. Mike Maie
2. Apany
3. Seph
4. Melanie

Just because it's so good

Another serving of Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan:



And another over here too

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Just caught the Aussie Grand Prix on Star Sports a while ago.. Between Michael Schumacher crashing to the wall and Jenson Button's engine blowing off (with flames and all) at the very last turn of the very last lap of the race and stopping literally about five meters from the finish line, that was a really entertaining race. Heh. (Podium? 1. Fernando Alonso, Renault; 2. Kimi Raikonnen, McLaren-Mercedes; 3. Ralph Schumacher, Toyota)

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It's April! It's Summer! Ang iniiiiit!

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edited to add:

Just caught Ice Age 2 earlier this evening. It was a funny movie, especially when the acorn dude is on the screen. Plus that mini-sloth tribe was hilarious as hell too! :-)))

There also seemed to be alot of computer-animated movies coming up... Most of them looked like they were too kiddy though...

Natalie Portman, You Own Me Now.

It's already the middle of March and I still haven't posted anything here...

So here I go.

My brother left for the US (to Atlanta) about two and a half weeks ago for a project he's been assigned to at work. He'll be staying there for atleast three months. Ano kaya ang magandang hingiing pasalubong?

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My favorite show of all time - The Amazing Race - is back with a new season... Woohoo! And it's back to the good, regular format of teams-of-two-racingaroundtheworld! (Good thing they ditched that completely sucky "Family Edition" racearoundtheUSandnearbycountries shit)

By the way, AXN just bought the rights to produce an Asian version of the Amazing Race. I'd join this, but I don't think I can take a month off from work... tsk tsk...

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Finally got to buy the Up Dharma Down cd... Haven't listened to it yet though... I'll try to post my thoughts later...

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Hostel!!!

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I scored two tickets for last night's advance screening of V for Vendetta. The movie was AMAZING. It's a really really really good movie (a timely one too) that I highly recommend to anyone. So watch it!

I shall die here. Every last inch of me shall perish. Except one.

An inch. It's small and it's fragile and it's the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it, or sell it, or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.

It's a really smart movie (I don't want to use "intellectual", because honestly, intellectual is such a blrergh word, you know?) that combines substance and style in an awesome way. It's a Vertigo movie is what it is. I could go on and on about how much I loved this movie, so I better stop now.

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F1 season is back again! Great start of the season with the Bahrain Grand Prix too, with Fernando Alonso overtaking Michael Schumacher on his way out of the pitstop, at the most perfect time in the race! Kimi Raikonnen took third place after starting the race at the bottom of the pack after sufferring suspension failure during qualifying (again). Still, good race...

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Last March 3-4, we at the office had our first teambuilding activity of the year (hope there's many more to come.) We had it at this resort at Balai, Indang, Cavite just a few kilometers off of Tagaytay. The place we rented was really nice, had very nice houses and rooms, good food, weather was great, it was a great weekend over-all... Except for one hilariously embarrassing thing that I did...

We were assigned our rooms and I was supposed to room with my manager, my team leader, and a teammate of mine. So we're four in the room right? Well, the short story is that I was the only one who actually got to sleep in the room because I fell asleep before everyone else and locked the door. Accidentally (y'all have to believe me on this). My three roommates (yep, including the manager) ended up sleeping in the sofas outside... So yeah... a little awkward seeing them the next few days...

Recommended Viewing/Listening:

I was scanning through www.youtube.com when I came across this video:

Damien Rice's Volcano

I say you view it. Because it's amazing.

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Yesterday, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared that the nation is under a State of Emergency, supposedly because there was a supposed coup attempt. Good on her for realizing that people don't want her in power. Excuse me while a vomit.

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I noticed that I forgot to keep my blog updated with some Aussie Open news. Well, the Aussie Open ended about a month ago (heh) so I'll just make this quick. Amelie Mauresmo won her first ever Grand Slam at the age of 26, Roger Federer won his 7th Grand Slam at the age of 24, the Bryan twins won the men's doubles, Zi Yan and Jie Zheng became the first Chinese players to ever win a Grand Slam after winning the women's doubles, and Martina Hingis capped of her successful comeback from competitive tennis by winning the mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi.

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Work related: Starting March 6, our team will be having 12:00 am - 8:30 am working hours. (I don't want to elaborate because I don't want to say something that I might not like saying after).

In another work-related news, checking my schedule for the next two months, looks like I'll be working on Holy Week (including Maundy Thursday and Good Friday). And that's bad because people don't usually work on those two days (at least here in the Philippines), they go on vacation. In Boracay. Or in Palawan. Or in Sagada. Because it's a holiday. Yet I won't get any additional pay for logging in 9 hours of work. On a holiday. Damn it.

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A couple of weeks ago, me and my officemates Mike, Jan, and Ben went to Eurostar (it's a carnival/amusement park). They only have around 7 rides there, but each one will definitely hit you hard. Parang Red Horse. My favorite was the Joker. Imagine riding a giant vertical centrifuge. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The best gifts are the gifts you get

The best gifts are the gits you get even when you're not celebrating anything.

Thursday Last Week:

I met up with some high school friends two Thursday's ago for a long overdue and much-delayed dinner out. We ate at A Venetto in Glorietta 3 and ordered more food than we could eat, which is usually the case whenever I eat at A Venetto (I always underestimate their huge serving/I always overestimate my appetite for pasta.) (I highly recommend their Oil and Garlic with Ham and Bacon in White Sauce, btw.) I haven't been seeing much of my high school friends as much as I want, so seeing them again after some time was really nice. High school friends are the best people to share a good laugh really (between the Walking Human Mirror Ball and the Salted Duck Egg-and-Potato jokes, what could be better?)

After dinner, we rode a cab home to Las Pinas (where we all live) and winded our night down at the kapihang bayan ng Las Pinas (take a guess), where we were able to extort money for a cup of coffee from SMART-employed Mel. We were more than happy to accept Mel's offer(?) to treat us since we know how generous Smart is with their Christmas bonuses (hint hint).

Friday Last Week:

The next night, I met up with my PEx tennis friends (Ron and his friend Trish, PJ and Anuck) in NSG to have dinner and to watch the Roger Federer-Nicolas Kiefer Aussie open semis match (we ate dinner, but we basically ignored the match coz we were too busy eating/talking. The Fed was gonna win in four sets anyways). The highlight of my night though was when PJ gave me his brand new copy of Jeff Buckley's first and only studio album Grace.

The back story: PJ is a big Jason Mraz fan, and so is Ron I guess, and they were talking about the Mraz concert that they both watched some days before (Mraz did two shows in Manila and PJ actually watched both, presumably so that he could write a compreshensive thesis of how Mraz's singing and performances in Manila changes from one night to another. Hehe.) Anywayz, they asked me if I liked Mraz too, and I said I think he's okay but I don't like him enough to watch his shows. And then I said If it was Damien Rice then I would definitely go watch, and if it was Jeff Buckley, then I would kill anyone who stops me from watching. So PJ asks me if I had a copy of Jeff Buckely's Grace, and I said no because it's so hard to find Jeff Buckley cd's anywhere here in Manila. Then suddenly he takes out the Grace CD he has in his bag that he got for a very looow price when he was in Singapore and said that I could have it since he already had the Grace Legacy Edition. Ofcourse there was a few seconds of me pretending like I was too shy to accept such a generous gift, but that only lasted a few seconds because there was no way in hell I was letting PJ change his mind.

I then proceeded to declare PJ "My favorite person in the world for the next five days."

This weekend:

I planned to talk about my weekend but the weekend is not yet over and this post already has too many words in it, so I'll just blog it next time... (I think I'll call my next entry Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!)

An Idle Blog is the Fly's Playground

This blog has been idle for some time now...


I'll try updating this Game soon...


I'll be getting my yearbook tomorrow (at least I'll try if I don't get too busy again)


In the meantime,

Happy Birthday Candice and Patricia!