Ice Carvings

I came up with the idea, but i had second thoughts. Nel ignored my blather and proceeded to pack three days worth of clothes for a day tour to Subic. At first i grumbled about the distance. Then, i groused about the steep admission price. Still then, i tried to point out that animals were being kept captive. Finally, i mumbled something about too many visitors and too few attractions. Hours later, i left Ocean Adventure feeling a bit better. About the animals, about the sea, and about me. The aquarium was a bit small by oceanarium standards, but they did house a pretty good collection of sea creatures that i rarely saw during my snorkeling sessions. The sea lion show was pretty entertaining, but it was nonsensical as most animal comedies are. But the dolphin show was way out of sight. Seeing it up close was way way way cooler than watching it on TV. And getting to hear them and touch them was icing on the cake. Like i mentioned earlier, the place is a bit smallish. You can tour the who...

it's been a while since my last post, even though there are far great things that have happened since. I know documenting things are pretty much a good thing, but i guess i'm far too involved with my own life to stop and take a breather and write everything down. I'm probably too busy savoring these moments. Or maybe it's because i spend every free time trying desperately to: a. finish the goddamn Pillar of Osiris medium level at Luxor b. have my Legend of Zelda disc work on the Wii. c. fix the crashed external drive full of my pics, music files, poems, and PSP games. at any rate, i've been given a new assignment, one that involves a new office, and a chance to travel and get to know the real country - not just the tourist traps. And i get to interact with all sorts of characters known to society. Of course, i didn't like the idea of moving at first. New location, new job, new things to do. I chafe at the thought of adjusting once again, but upon hindsight i gue...

i might be mistaken, but i think Beerkada author Lyndon Gregorio followed up on a promise and featured me and San Mig Light marketing guy Herbert in a Beerkada comic strip last Monday. I kinda downloaded the image but linked up to Lyndon's website. The resemblance might be vague at best, but see if you can recognize me... This sure beats the hell out of FrancisM's promise to give me his James 23 shirt.

yes. We blew all our vacation moolah with the Boracay trip late Januar, so we'll have to lay back and enjoy the city as the metropolis empties itself. Hey, if i got nothing to do, i'm doing it at home... Happy Holy Week!

After a month of waiting for it to happen, it's finally over. my second trip to bora - this time with nel, was way better than expected. being our 5th anniversary, it was high time we tried for a real honeymoon and what better place that we can afford than the one great beach she hasn't been to yet? I was expecting a small crowd to join us on our trip since it was off-peak season, but then i realized while waiting at the airport that in matters like Boracay, there is no such thing as off-peak. More people than ever, foreigners especially, are avoiding the holiday season and coming to the white beach in droves during the months and weeks we locals are supposed to work or study. I was watching a gaggle of Americans waiting for the same plane. I assume they were American, as they are the only culture i know that despite their skin tone, still firmly believe that buying native wear would make them blend in with the local citizenry. So here there are, happily congregating at the wai...

in the course of research i came upon this site: http://thehappinessshow.com/HappiestCountries.htm Puerto Rico is #1 and Zimbabwe is the cellar dweller. The Philippines is ranked 30th among the happiest places on earth. just before indonesia and ahead of taiwan. just what the hell does it all mean? somehow, my idea of a happy place is a bit far away from Puerto Rico...

Despite the holiday onslaught I managed to stay 6 pounds off by simply refusing extra rice and just taking in the occasional soda. However, combining this new discipline with the conscious effort of not smoking is killing me a bit. Then, Solar channels decide to stay away from Skycable, which eliminates virtually all my saved channels: JackTV, Basketball TV, ETC. NatGeo and Discovery aren’t designed for continuous viewing so unless I develop a healthy liking for Arirang or NHK I might as well bring out the Wii permanently. Aaaargh! Somebody put me in a coma until the 25 th . Please. It’s been one and a half days. I have 23 days to go before we hit the beaches. The sun, sea, sand, and sky of Boracay for three days – where my only obligation is to relax. Until then, I need to distract myself with work, more work, more sleep, wii, basketball, gym, less food, and better coffee. This is gonna be a nightmarish 23 days. I can't believe i'm saying this, but thank...

uh, happy new year. and we're off to a great start, forswearing as usual the cigarettes, continuing on the weight loss program, cutting back on the food intake, and maintaining a booze quota. all for the illusory objective of getting better... honestly, does not reeking of stale tobacco smoke, having smaller love handles, and getting home sober more often make you a better person? i guess at the least it makes a person less noxious and/or obnoxious. the funny thing is, i started the first night of 2008 suffering from acute insomnia, leaving me restless for a good four and half hours and allowing me the unexpected pleasure of rereading and finishing One Hundred Years of Solitude at 4 am Jan 2. But why couldn't i sleep? Am i suffering from withdrawal symptoms from 2007? it's not like i want to hang on to last year. even if i did, what good will that do? it makes as much sense as keeping toenail clippings because you loved the manicure. Hopefully, 2008 makes more sense than i ...

While my trip to Cebu was the more exciting part of last month's adventures, it was the various notes i cribbed during countless hours at the airport that provided a couple of insights to life at the waiting lane. Here are some. Delays The word "delayed" strikes up a terror in your heart when uttered under two occasions: The first one is when your casual girlfriend uses the word to describe her state out of the blue and matter-of-fact. The second one is when you've made sure you got to the airport on time, checked in your luggage early, and then sat down all eager to board your plane and get the hell away from (or toward) your destination. To hear the word "delay" at the airport gives you an inexplicable sense of sadness and disappointment. Through no fault of your own, your travel time is significantly bumped up in minutes or hours. And you earn extra time pondering if taking this flight was a good idea after all. I guess that's the reason: delays give ...

(note: I was hemming and hawing and itching to write a reaction to malu fernandez that wouldn't include any dissertations to her appearance -- in the spirit of fair and balanced blogging of course, but thousands have beaten me to the punch. If you have no idea who the Diva from Dubai is, please read up even if it's a bit too late. You might be an OFW sooner than you think... I decided to write about a different, more pressing topic altogether. As for divalicious malu, let blogger anton de leon illuminate you instead. ) ---------- This post is dedicated to Cris Anthony Mendez , another senseless victim that shouldn't have been one. I have few complaints about my college alma mater, but there are few experiences that stood out in my mind during my four years of stay. During my third year, i was constantly asked by new friends on what fraternity i belonged to. Since i swore my undying fealty to no one, nor do i have plans to do so, i told them so. 9 times out of 10 the lac...

Recently, SM Megamall began promoting the upcoming blockbuster "The Sinking of Japan." They bet on this baby so big, that they plastered the posters in between escalator rides. (sorry i can't find an english version, so this will have to do:) Anyways, the marketing guys (whether SM's or the film distributor) wasn't exactly content with the title "The Sinking of Japan." So, some wise guy decided to put a sticker on the top right portion of each poster proudly proclaiming that this movie is the "The Number One movie in Japan!" So, if you're like me who likes wandering aimlessly at malls, and upon riding the escalator you chance upon this row of posters, what would you think? THE SINKING OF JAPAN THE NUMBER ONE MOVIE IN JAPAN Can't help but imagine a whole theater slowly sinking into the abyss while the Japanese continue watching and applauding. Some marketing guys should be fired and put out of their misery.

Harry Potter mania has once again reawakened in the form of a new movie and the upcoming final book. Unfortunately, the first salvo was a dud. We went to see the movie last Saturday and was it a clunker! HP 5 was a dizzyingly fast-paced movie, and the production seemed based on cliff notes rather than the actual tale. That's why it presented viewers with a Catch-22 dilemma: If you have read the entire HP series, you'll know that watching HP and the OotP is like reading the book in fast-forward mode. Some important scenes were glossed over, and some entirely reinterpreted. This wasn't supposed to be like this. harry was supposed to be an angry young man in this episode, but what we see borders more on confused, which the audience readily relates to from the opening credits till the copyright notice. For those who braved the movie yet haven't picked up the book, the movie won't make much sense. I'll even stop trying to explain. -- I hope for everybody's sake t...

I was standing outside the house in a rare moment of catching my breath from the crazy weeks past. It so happened that i glanced at the some of my neighbor's house. The building code in my community expressly states conformity in terms of structure, but since the complex is more than 2 decades old, there were some noticeable changes in some of the houses. i noticed that metal bars were placed in the windows of the house just across the corner, heavy ones at that. now, in some other place in Manila, that would have been common, but in this relatively peaceful place that we have, it struck me as an oddity. While security is not really a strong suit, we have enough guards patrolling the area and residents fairly know each other by faces, I have been lax from time to time but nothing bad has ever happened. So why the heavy windows? Looking carefully, i realized that the windows have been enlarged in this house, and that it serves as a mini-balcony of sorts. It also made me realize that...

If I kiss you where it's sore If I kiss you where it's sore Will you feel better, better, better Will you feel anything at all Will you feel better, better, better Will you feel anything at all Born like sisters to this world In a town where blood ties are only blood If you never say your name out loud to anyone They can never ever call you by it If I kiss you where it's sore If I kiss you where it's sore Will you feel better, better, better Will you feel anything at all Will you feel better, better, better Will you feel anything at all You're getting sadder, getting sadder, getting sadder, getting sadder And I don't understand, and I don't understand - Regina Spektor, "Better" For the third straight week, Nel still hasn't warmed up to her new job. Which is partly understandable considering she spent the last ten years at the same office. However, her idea of sadness is a bit unnerving. And i have limited exposure to things like that because i ...

i got this rare insight from the endless barrage of hilarity/inanity at one of my YahooGroups subscriptions (thanks Lu-Ann!). While i do not actually long to put these words to the test at present, I am nevertheless intrigued by the truth behind the cynicism. Enough of the intro. Closing Cycles One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters - whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished. Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden? You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in...

As of May, i remain hopeful that the local Adidas stores should be carrying anything that has the word "Kings" on it. As the official outfitter of the NBA, they have a number of team-specific goodies that i would snap up in a heartbeat. Since they have a large prsence here, i was hoping they'd carry a number of goods that featured my favorite team. I started asking around February, and so far, i snagged a single black shirt with a modest Kings logo at the center. the shirt's ok, but considering that the jerseys, sweatshirts, practice Ts, and tanks carry the more popular teams: dallas, chicago, boston, cleveland, the hated lakers, i feel alone in my devotion to Sacramento's baskteball club. Then came great news, i left my number at a few outlets so that they can contact me whenever a new shipment with Kings gear arrives. This particular friendly one from Megamall called the other night to excitedly inform me that he was able to get a Kings superstar collection shoe...

"Tito, swimming na tayo." The whole time we were at Palawan, these four words would always wake me first thing in the morning. My niece, who i believe is more fairy than human has managed to do something no alarm clock can do: wake me up with a smile. Despite her request, we had to do away with swimming at the resort pool. The borrowed Expedition just arrived, and we all needed to shower, dress up, stuff the luggage, and eat before we embark on a long road trip. Puerto Princesa is smack down in the middle of Palawan, and our vacation lies somewhere north, hence a 4 hour drive is in the works. And this is not the same as driving via SLEX to Laguna. 1/3 of the journey is smooth road, 1/3 is unpaved road, and the remainder is composed of rickety bridges and dirt trails. Lots of trees, lots of farmland, and lots and lots of soil. Luckily, my brother managed to get ahold of a big vehicle like this Ford, so the bumpiness was reduced. A lot. But not enough for my nephew to chuck ...

(note: instead of adding a new entry, i just decided to update this piece. What??? do you need further explanation?) i never imagined me saying this, but i thought that after Boracay, summer was officially over for me. Although i have had the gracious opportunity to visit three beaches in one month - Puerto Galera, Matabungkay, and Boracay, plus a side trip to Tagaytay, nothing prepared me for the final leg: We went to Palawan! Not just Palawan, Palawan mind you - but a free stay at Club Noah, courtesy of my generous and South Luzon assigned brother. So who's complaining? We're only paying for our plane fare but we got to stay at Club Noah for 2 days (the remaining 2 we spent at Puerto Princesa and traveling). Here i was, my tattoo not even completely faded, yet back on terminal 2 to grab a quick flight to Puerto. The kids were with us this, as well as my brother and his wife, so this promised to be a different trip. Plus, the 2 elder girls, Mikee and Eina, having an airline mo...

So much for going to Bora during the weekend. it's only tuesday and now i'm swamped with work with schedules until October. Good thing everything i'm doing has "beer" written all over it. Thanks to the people at Marketing, who thought it was time i went with them and write about what i saw, i was able to see what the fuss was all about. Man, it was better than advertised, and you while i dreaded seeing the expected overflow crowd and too many structures, it wasn't as bothersome as i thought. The sea and the sand and the sun is more than enough to overlook these trifles. Apart from work, we spent our free time sitting idly in front of the beach, drinking beer or sampling the island fruit shakes. The hotel we stayed in offered a great view, (but you'd really be thick if you chose to spend your hours in your hotel room) and even then, there was no shortage of getting a good view - anywhere! Simply go down to the powdery white sand of a beach and walk left o...

Yes, I know. I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about our last vacation while my skin voluntarily flakes off from my recent bout with sunburn. I’m supposed to write about happy thoughts that began with a bus ride from hell crammed with assorted characters, ranging from the Euro lover of Asian-looking women, to the solo scratchy weirdo, to hardcore members of the Brokeback Mountain fans club, who suddenly decided to anoint a wall in Batangas with callings from nature: Then, I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about fighting your way into the passenger terminal on Batangas City, where everybody and his mother decided to spend Holy Week. About crawling in the midst of the horde while I lug around 2 huge gym bags which Nel deemed less than enough for a 3 days at the beach. Next, I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about the one-hour plus boat ride on something totally made of wood, where we greet choppy waves out to impersonally maim us. On disembarking, we were greeted by establishmen...