chunks of sanity

Butterfly

2010-10-26T09:56:00.001+08:00

When you stand outside the back exit of Cybergate Mall, you will see a part of the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum. It is a beautiful building built in 1973. Along the beams of the building are intricately carved balousters that can only be described as classical. Everything is painted white. The pillars that support the ornate ceilings are the most beautiful in the city -- tall, uniformly ridged structures that briefly flourish at the top. The windows are stained glass.

They have always wanted to get married in this building.

So when they saw that it was still early, they agreed to walk around the block to the library. It would take some four minutes to get there from the mall. Neither of them has been inside before, and they wondered if it was open despite the holiday. They crossed the street and walked beside each other on the sidewalk.

Then it rained.

They ran to the iron gates of the library slouching their shoulders and ducking their heads. He asked a security guard if the library is open. It was not. At this point they were getting very wet and running back to the mall would only drench them more. So they looked around for a place to wait the rain out.

In 1985, Mr. George Te, a shrewd businessman, made a substantial fortune selling slippers. As all rich men are inclined to do, he got himself a mistress and lavished her with gifts. Of course, Mrs. Te never knew about the affair. At some point, wives will lose interest in their husbands and live their lives doing God knows what.

Mr. Te was not content to see his mistress every now and then. He wanted to live with her but he dreaded leaving Mrs. Te. He knew Mrs. Te would berate him to no end and tell anyone who is willing to listen about his indiscretion. Mr. Te felt he was a good man and his reputation must reflect this. So this matter about the mistress must be kept a secret. All good men have secrets.

And so five months after the affair began, Mr. Te bought land beside the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum. On it he built a five story building, six stories if we include the basement. He put up the headquarters of his slippers business in the basement and had the other floors rented as office space. His wife thought this was a good business venture, but she was not interested. Her lack of interest meant she would never find out that the whole penthouse floor was the exclusive residence of her husband's mistress. He would spend countless of nights in the building under the guise of working overtime. But in truth, Mr. Te could hardly be found in the basement. Every morning, he would walk the sidewalk of Jones Avenue, pass the Rizal Library and Museum, climb the staircase that led to the mezzanine of the building -- the main lobby --, ride the elevator, and press 5.

They quickly climbed the staircase and got out of the rain. She looked around and saw closed offices except for a Reproductive Health office on the upper ground floor. She read a sign on entrance hall, "Te Commercial Building, 1985." She told him she has never been here before. Neither was he. They decided to sit on the staircase and wait the rain out.

"So when are you getting married?", he asked her.

"December.", she answered smiling.

"I'm glad we had lunch together. It's been a while since I last saw you."

"Jason and I were in town. He's off somewhere else with his buddies and I was all alone in the hotel. So I might as well get together with old friends."

"Old friend," he repeated. "Do I look that old now?"

She laughed. She placed her arms behind her and leaned back. She looked at the jeepneys and cars making sloshing sounds on the street. Aaah... Cebu. Just as she remembered it from years back.

"You've told me over lunch about your business and how great it's been going. But you never told me how you are," she asked him.

"I'm fine, I guess," he lied. He followed her and placed his arms behind him and leaned back. "You know, we used to do exactly this on the soccer field during Cookout."

"Yes," she laughed. "We'd stay late passed midnight and just gaze at the stars."

"Well, we also made fun of the stupid Rampahan contestants." He laughed. She laughed.

"Didn't you join Rampahan once?" She looked at him quizzically, suppressing a smirk.

"I never did." He lied. They both knew he was lying and laughed about it.

"You wore that silly black skirt and..." she pressed on.

"I wore no such thing!" He protested. He gazed at her smiling eyes and felt a sudden stab in his heart.

There is nothing like listening to the rain. When you listen to music your mind is filled with music and you can hardly think of anything else. When you listen to a sermon, the same thing happens. But listening to the rain only megaphones whatever thoughts you may have. It's the perfect way to listen to yourself, listening to the rain. It's the sound of silence.

"I hardly know you anymore," he finally said to her. Not looking at her, but staring at the raindrops on the pavement.

"Well," she sat up and smiled big, "let me introduce myself then." She gave her hand to shake. "I'm Leslie and I'm a florist. And you?"

"Haha..." he sat up. "I'm Karl. I sell automated solutions for procurement organizations." He took her hand.

"Impressive... Do you enjoy computers then, Karl?"

"Very much so, yes. Even in college, I've always been the geek." He said shyly.

"I love geeks! I think they're the coolest. Where are you based now?"

"Hong Kong. I've lived there since after College. I'm just here for vacation, really."

"Wow! What's Hong Kong like?"

"Clean. Smells like Chinese food everywhere." She laughed at this. "And you? Where do you live?" He asked her.

"Makati. I have a shop in one of the malls there and I sell fresh flowers."

"Are you sure they are fresh?" He kidded her.

"Always." She nodded and smiled big.

"I know they are. I don't doubt it." He smiled quietly. "Have you always wanted to be a florist?"

"No, not really. I've always wanted to..." she was thinking, "paint houses."

"Haha, that's amazing!" He was sincere. He truly never knew this before.

"You know what I do? I would draw stick houses in MS Paint and color." She was facing him now and gesturing her hands wildly. "I would paint the roof some color, then paint the walls and then the windows. When I'm done I save it. I have a folder in my desktop for all my colored houses."

"In bitmaps!"

"Yes!"

"That's amazing!" He was really surprised about this. They laughed loudly together and forgot about the rain.

When the laughter subsided, he looked at her and felt the sudden need to hold her. And study her. He wanted to know everything about her. He felt this with a sense of purpose. Like he was meant to understand her. All of her.

"Why did you leave for Hong Kong right after graduation, Karl?" her question awoke him from his thoughts. She needed an answer.

"I thought I needed the job." He answered her seriously. "I needed to earn. I never knew I need more than that to live." He continued to gaze at her eyes. He was not willing to do anything else but that. "I miss you, babe."

She looked at his eyes. She wondered what those eyes have seen in the many years she has not seen him. A sense of jealousy crept in her heart. He will look at another. And perhaps many more. She will never see him again. Not like this. Her old friend. Her good man.

She looked at the street and noticed that the rain has not relented. She stood up anyway and said, "We better go back to the mall. You only get two hours free parking, right?" She smiled big and looked at him.

"Yes. How will you go back to the hotel?" He asked sadly.

"I borrowed Jason's car. But don't tell him, he doesn't know yet." She laughed.

He laughed.

They walked the four minutes back to Cybergate mall drenched in the rain. They weren't slouching this time, or ducking their heads. They walked slowly, beside each other.

The best thing about the rain is it hides the tears.

Nearby a butterfly struggled in the rain. Its wings were in beautiful green and blue iridescence, but the raindrops pinned them to the ground. A butterfly must never try to flap its wings when they are heavy with water. The butterfly did not know this. So when one wing laid flat on the wet ground and the butterfly tried to pick it up, it broke.

It will never fly again.

I Write Like

2010-07-21T00:28:00.001+08:00

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

CCF Cebu 9th Anniversary Video

2009-10-25T16:49:00.002+08:00

Editing : Brian and Banne
Screenplay : Brian and Banne
Voice : Grace Bayawa
Picture credits : Merrivelle Moriel, Paulo Calo, Mark Anthony Mendoza
Music : Baba Yetu by Christopher Tin, Stanford Talisman (the Lord's prayer in Swahili)

Dawnwatch

2009-08-25T07:59:00.003+08:00

Dawnwatch from brian magalong on Vimeo.

The Greening of Manila

2009-06-14T16:40:00.006+08:00

I blogged about Trinoma before. Guess what, it's gotten better:

Could be the addition of those smooth river stones.

As always, Bonifacio High Street was breathtaking. I wonder when this place gets old, though.

The Sky Garden at SM North also did not disappoint. In my opinion, it's the best piece of green Manila has to offer.
With true to life waterfalls:

But really, I'm just here for Pepper Lunch. :P

Alright, Manny!

2009-05-03T14:09:00.004+08:00

This goes out to those people who did not stand up when the Philippine national anthem was played in SM City Cebu, Cinema 2 last May 2, 2009:

Don't you understand? Don't you get it? It's not about being cool.

It's about respecting the nation that so many Filipinos have fought and sacrificed for. The freedom you have in this country is the result of the collective efforts of your countrymen who -- in big and small ways -- have made sure you will have a better life than they ever had.

You are all probably employed. Well the reason you still have paychecks is because of the thousands of overseas Filipino workers who work their asses off just to send in the dollars. They work day in and day out in foreign countries, far from their families. They are missing out on all the birthdays, graduations, and weddings of their loved ones. All these men and women are literally carrying the weight of our nation's economy on their shoulders. And you are enjoying all the perks that brings. But that shouldn't matter right? It's uncool and embarrassing.

Let's not even talk about the Rizals and the Bonifacios and the Silangs. You probably think they are all uncool too. Nevermind the fact that because of their courage and bravery, you have a country you can call your own. You probably have houses or are renting apartments. Well, guess what: The land you live on have been purchased by the those who fought revolutions against those who wanted to colonize you. But that shouldn't matter right? It's uncool and too passe.

Just wondering, are you Christians? Don't you know that in China, you can go to jail if you even pray in public? In some parts of Africa, you can get tortured if you worship publicly. In the Philippines, you can worship God and no one will so much as lift a finger against you. Is that still uncool?

Oh yeah, Pacquiao. Not cool enough?

Now, that's cool.

STAND UP WHEN THE ANTHEM IS PLAYING, PEOPLE!!!!! JUST STAND UP!!!! THAT'S ALL.

summer chick

2009-04-10T12:05:00.001+08:00

MENtality

2009-04-05T18:14:00.004+08:00

update: this is way cooler:

How Great Is Our God

2009-03-19T23:18:00.002+08:00

See you all in Machay! If you don't know how to get there, here is a google map for you:

View Larger Map

One Night's Stand

2009-02-28T08:57:00.003+08:00

It was a roaring success!!! And we all know *who* made it happen. :)

To all the singles who went, keep at it.

This is one of the slides i made for the night. I think it's really one of my better works :). Some specs:
Font: Coolvetica
PS Brush: trees, swirls, splashes (not in this slide)
Texture: 2 paper and 1 wood texture. no fancy texturizing, just plain old opacity.

How I Spent My Christmas

2008-12-26T09:41:00.005+08:00

while all of you were probably still dozed off from noche buena hang over, i was driving myself and my sister to the hospital. no, i was not hit by a stray bullet (thank God) nor did i lose a finger from a firecracker incident. I was diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease and a bacterial infection in my upper respiratory tracht.

sucks really. it did not make it better that since it was dec 25, the outpatient department of chong hua hospital was closed, so we had to go to the emergency room to be attended to. we got there quite early, so the floor was still rather deserted. after some poking and prodding, i had ECG and CBC. the ECG machine looked like this:

it had suctions that the nurse placed all over my chest. it also had cold iron clamps placed conveniently around my wrist so i wasn't able to take a picture of my self ECG'd. ECG was followed by CBC:

this one was great, in a morbid kind of way. the nurse took so much blood, the most i think anyone ever took from me. immediately, i remembered he Cullens. hehehe... after she finished, the nurse mumbled a "Merry Christmas" and went away. probably not a greeting you should throw around patients in emergency rooms.

poking and proding revealed i had ERD. CBC revealed i had the bacterial infection (same as my sister's) and ECG revealed nothing more.

it's really great i just finished Seasons 4 and 5 of Grey's anatomy before i had this trip to the hospital. that way when the doctor at the desk asked me if i wanted to see an intern or the resident gastro doctor, i knew clearly what she meant. i mean, hey! that's like asking if i wanted Lexie Grey or Dr. Miranda Bailey to check on me... haller. (or as how you say it these days, Baler!)

so now i have a total of 42 pills to down in seven days. seven days from now, i go back to work. tsk tsk tsk, so much for the dream vacation of frolicking on the beach. now, all i can think of is getting hydrated, and staying away from coke.

i spent the rest of my christmas day contemplating gym membership with banne. we toured fitness first in ayala and was this close to signing up. the place looked great, but i don't know. i have a feeling i don't want to be a slave to physical fitness. we ended the night walking the IT park blocks 3 times. that killed our feet.

anyway, Merry Christmas! don't get sick.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T21:26:00.005+08:00

It's Sam's first Christmas, so she gets to greet you:

Merry Christmas, everyone! Her Piglet stuffy from banne...

what the?!

2008-12-21T23:06:00.000+08:00

Look, I Sparkle!

2008-12-21T20:54:00.004+08:00

Gobama!

2008-10-19T07:40:00.002+08:00

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

America, please do the world a favor and vote for Obama. :)

This video has all the elements of grunge. I think the editor went a little lazy towards the end, but it is still beautiful.

Sleepy...

2008-10-15T21:31:00.001+08:00

Here's my niece Sam. She just woke up in this picture, but I'm just about ready to crash to sleep. OT is a drab.

(Blogging from phone coz I just remembered I can do it. I love this phone!)

Sarah, sarah, sarah

2008-09-30T23:29:00.003+08:00

what is up with Sarah Palin?

for the record, it is one of the most distressing thing that she would choose to run in a time such as this. not only is there a war going on, the financial sector is collectively caving in on itself, and baby-boomers in America are getting older and in need of health care, but this is also the age of YouTube, Digg, Huffingtonpost, and SNL. people will make fun of you the moment you commit a mistake and they will blog about you, impersonate you without mercy, and play your video over and over again.

where perception is readily accepted as reality, you have to play the media-game very carefully. it's bad enough that the McCain camp has to limit media interviews to a very few journalists, but with the few interviews she's given, she... well... sucked.

i used to be involved in campus politics, and debates always mean hours and hours of preparation on the part of the candidates (or slate, in UP jargon). of course there is always an allowable degree of B.S. (bull excrement) that is expected from speeches, but it should never be excessive. one rule we did enforce was: if you don't know the issue behind a question, admit it. there is always room for humility even in politics.

honestly i dread Thurday's VP debate. i cringe at the thought of it. i have heard Joe Biden speak, and i love the calm temperament. Ms Palin hugely banks on her feisty demeanor to intimidate. Joe Biden banks on quiet experience to outwit. eeeee.... *cringing*

babe just turned 24

2008-09-30T23:02:00.004+08:00

and so it came to pass that she is once again older than i am. hehehehe...

you see banne and i only get to be of the same age for 5 months in a year (may-september). the rest of the year, i can technically call her "ate." or if i want to be a jerk, "manang." ngyak ngyak ngyak.

in celebration of 24 years of you, here's switchfoot:

for pictures and more, head on over to my girl's post. i don't have pictures because i didn't bring a cam. but i can remember every scene in the party. it's hard to forget the image of a kid called "Double-D" knocking over the lettering in banne's butterfly cake. or girls (too many of them) asking for pink balloons. and a kid named "Taboy" (sounds like that) giving me a blow-by-blow account of Pixar's Presto. it was the craziest party i've ever been in. i loved it.

see you around babe. don't go wandering ahead too much, i'll catch up with you in 8 months. but sure is nice to be the younger one again. that means i can get away with being naughty. :P

vanessa, banne, van, daria, dharma, quinn, mama ni Pi, biatch, ako G.B., Sunday school teacher, mariah, nun, violinist, NKE-er, drawer of uber-thin girls with short skirts, heart-breaker, best friend, lover, whoever you chose to be at the moment, i love you. i love all of you.

serious backlog

2008-09-30T22:50:00.002+08:00

to all our filipino muslim brothers and sisters, thank you so much for making tomorrow a holiday! there is absolutely nothing better than a mid-week rest-day. it's way better than a long weekend, if you ask me. reminds me of UP's wednesday "wash day," not that we wear uniform the rest of the week.

nyway, i have some serious blogging to do. i have 3-5 posts in my mind which i never got published. and since it's a no-work day tomorrow, i'll blog til i drop tonight.

Road Scene 4

2008-09-21T22:42:00.002+08:00

have you ever tried driving with an audience?

these guys watched me drive the whole stretch of the Jagobiao slope. i couldn't get pass them because of heavy traffic. they made me feel conscious. i had to put more effort on how i stop and go or they'd think i drive like an amateur. ngek ngek.

Loi Salon: Opening on September 8

2008-09-07T02:37:00.006+08:00

I would like to invite all of you to come and see my mothers soon-to-open beauty salon.

to get to the place, please check out the bottom part of this flyer:

for a complete list of services, please check below:

if you tell her I referred you, you can get as much as 50% discount. :D

here are some pictures of the place so you will not miss it:

it's right in front of the new Banilad flyover, Caltex side.

so don't forget everyone: if you are ever in Banilad and you want to relax and be pampered, visit Loi Salon for a complete salon experience!

at last, my brain explained

2008-08-12T23:29:00.001+08:00

Your Brain is 40% Female, 60% Male

You have a total boy brain

Logical and detailed, you tend to look at the facts

And while your emotions do sway you sometimes...

You never like to get feelings too involved

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Happy Birthday, Ruiz!!!

2008-08-12T20:18:00.005+08:00

last saturday was gladys' birthday party. you will all remember her as the filipina who claims to be brazilian in a vision i once received. now, she doesn't look anything like her former self. from the resident tabachoy, she reinvented herself to something like paris hilton. when gladys hilton died, she reincarnated into someone curvy-sultry, like anna nicole smith. these days, she's the girl with the bangs, or as an old classmate would describe her, 'lami na kaayo!!'

piglet cake.

and then we decided to have our pictures taken in different combinations:

that's I-Bartlett. (UP High School first year, Bartlett section, in case you don't know.)

I-Benton. in first year, i once planned to trap banne behind the lockers. as i was pushing about 300 lbs of locker cabinet to trap her, she decided to escape. she was promptly squeezed between the wall and the cabinet. i don't think she cried, she just really hated me. nyahahaha!

II-Bocobo!!! we performed Small House of Uncle Thomas (from the Yul Bryner original The King and I). menguito: scientific dog. brian: lyre operator/pa-or-or. aby: prompter. maumau: Elisa. gladys: dancer. ngyak ngyak.

II-Palma. banne danced Arabian Nights, the opening of Alladin. in see-thru pants!!! hahaha..

III-Sinco. star section.. wooohooo....

IV-Corpuz. thesis partners.
NECers...

Alpha I in CAT...

great fun! great fun!

we hate bowling

2008-08-12T20:10:00.003+08:00

we really do.
we just go for the pictures.

and the food afterwards.

and pose for more pictures.

kathy taking on ferosh.

we had dinner at bar-b-q joe's at the walk. the gorgeous place succeeded in making us forget the quality of the dinner.

Road Scene 3

2008-07-25T20:07:00.005+08:00

this episode of Road Scene is a rather sad one. it was around 7 AM at the back of Cebu Doctor's Hospital when my car was clamped by CITOM.

you see, my sister-in-law was already in labor at the Chong Hua Hospital delivery room when the doctor advised us to buy blood at Cebu Doctor's Blood Bank for possible use. i was honestly a little panicky then. i was never a fan of hospitals, let alone the prospect of blood infusion. so i honestly did not see the No Parking sign. in fact, even if i saw it, i probably would have ignored it, the time being 7AM, rather ungodly for CITOM officers.

so when my mother and i went back to where i parked the car, there was the CITOM sign announcing to the world that i had been irresponsible and i needed to settle my violation at the CITOM office at the back of LTO. i was quiet furious (a little nervous because i was carrying a bag of blood, type B+), and i immediately searched the street for uniformed men. i found one and stopped short of shoving the bag of blood in the officer's face explaining the "emergency" because of which i can justify my violation to the rules of the city streets. i was in the second minute of my justified berration of the officer's inconsideration when i realized i was talking to a parking attendant. doh. so i asked my mom to take a cab back to Chong Hua and i took a cab myself. driver's license and car registration (both complete with official receipts from the government of the republic), i went straight to CITOM office.

the picture you see above is not a jail cell. it is where the tax-paying citizens of Cebu City queue and wait for their names to be called and settle clamping violations. quiet dismal if you'd ask me. it makes gotham city jail look shabby chic. the CITOM office reeks of testosterone, every corner and nook of the building. no wonder middle-aged women who work there, who could otherwise look like Martha Stewarts or even Demi Moores (why not?) have all decided to just give up on their looks and promptly dress and act like brute hooligans.

i was informed that the violation would set me back P500. fine with me, just take the damned clamp off my left front wheel, thank you. but first, CITOM must search thru my past violations, if any, and settle those. fine with me, i have never had any since that morning's clamping incident.

so i waited. and out came a receipt this long:

it was all the violations committed under my plate number for the past 11 years!!! (well, i told you i drive an old car.) imagine that, from running a red light, illegal stopping, illegal accessory, you name it! and the bill? the bill, you ask? P4,000!!!!

faced with the choice of having my car impounded and dragged by a towing car (all of which i must pay), i gave in and payed. doh.

PREVIOUS OWNER OF MY CAR: i will hunt you down, and shove this receipt in your throat! i will make you pay for your violations and charge you tripple for my efforts. i settled your violations, man! it was you who ran the red light, not me! it was you who did not stop when you should have, not me! it was you who committed six unattended vehicle violations near Osmena Circle, six! SIX! i will hunt you, and make you pay!

then again, my Christian upbringing compels me to go easy on you. just the same, what you did was bad, you.. you... you... TRAFFIC VIOLATOR!

Lord, can i just call him a really foul name for once? grrr....

digg this please!!!

2008-07-25T19:27:00.002+08:00

you guys just have to digg this:
http://digg.com/movies/James_Batman_Filipino_James_Bond_Batman

hahahaha, too funny!!!

Rock Night website

2008-07-19T01:07:00.004+08:00

ok, i'm finally announcing it:

Rock Night August 30 website, click click click.

please add us up as Contact. i know multiply is last season, but it is still the biggest social networking site here in RP.

UPDATE: we are now in friendster! i created a Friendster account for all those people I can't convince to go on multiply. then again, i will never maintain a multiply site myself. add us up: here.

grunge rock night

2008-07-13T23:21:00.003+08:00

ok, i may have taken this whole grunge thing too far. my friends at church asked me to create a multiply site for the Aug 30 Rock Night (yeah... we are doing it again). and of course, i said yes, and thought immediately about the grunge theme. well, here it goes, the evolution of the site banner (arranged chronologically):

and the winner:

(will launch the site formally once we have content already).

that's it! no more grunge!

grunge butterfly

2008-07-11T00:05:00.003+08:00

the grunge style has been around for a long time now and it's always an absolute delight for me. it combines dirt and grime and chaos but is strangely beautiful. i'm no graphics designer but i do like to play around with photoshop, so here it is, my take on grunge:

i know i'm gonna get a lot of crap about how her head looks severed, and how the splashes are a bit too much, but i absolutely love it. i wanted to bring out the pretty eyes, and i think i did it, grungely so. so don't be hatin' people, it's my first try.

my sister's boyfriends' gifts

2008-07-08T20:29:00.003+08:00

i have a confession. one of the things i miss most about my sister is not really her. it's her boyfriends. particularly, her boyfriends's presents. haha...

you see, i have always lived with a beautiful sister. and as far as i can remember, she has never really had any problems in the boyfriend department. before, when her suitors came to our house, they always brought cakes or chocolates or ice cream. i miss those days. once i came home from school with 3 whole cakes in the fridge. all different kinds, of course.

i particularly remember one boyfriend who we shall not name here. every Friday, he would go to cockfight derbies to bet. my mom and i would know if he had won when we would come home to ice cream and chocolates on Friday evenings. hahaha... oh the benefits i had reaped from being kin to a looker. in all these years my sister had been away, i have almost forgotten how enormously gratifying it is to be in the receiving end of gift-giving, as it were.

just this evening, not barely a week after she had arrived, i came home to Red Ribbon chocolate mouse rolls! still stressed and shaken from rush hour traffic, i hurriedly grabbed a fork, took a seat in the dining table and said a prayer of thanks for beautiful sisters, gift-giving suitors, luscious chocolate whipped chiffon cake and love. then i wolfed down two whole slices.

as we speak, said sister is out on a date with some lucky man. they took my car (along with my precious gas -- still half-tank full), but promised to return it full-tank. ooohh... something tells me i will enjoy the coming days. :D

Google un-perks employees

2008-07-08T00:14:00.002+08:00

Oohhh boy. I am hoping this story is not true.

Sergey Brin said he had no sympathy for the parents, and that he was tired of "Googlers" who felt entitled to perks like "bottled water and M&Ms," according to several people in the meeting. (A Google spokesman denies that Brin made that comment.) On Monday, Google began the first phase of its new day care plan, letting go of the outside day care firm it had been using.

If Google, the fabled paradisaical company, can't keep up with its lovely perks, what hope is there for the rest of us?

this is awkward...

2008-07-06T14:04:00.003+08:00

if you were venus and serena williams' father, how exactly would you react? quite awkward really. i rather like serena more, but after this speech venus is kind of growing on me.

Dance, dance

2008-07-05T08:27:00.000+08:00

Dance, one and all! Dance!

Jung Typology Test

2008-06-23T21:56:00.004+08:00

today we took the Jung Typology Test and these are the results:

banne and i were Idealists Counselors (Mentors)

jayjay was an Idealist Champion (Advocate)

karina was an Artisan Composer (Entertainer)

kathy was an Artisan Craftsman (Operator)

explains so much, don't you think?

Bruschetta

2008-06-19T21:32:00.003+08:00

after eating more chinese food than i ever thought possible, i am now in the look out for food that has absolutely nothing to do with china. that means no dimsum, no noodles, no raw vegetables garnished with oyster sauce, none of those.

so it was a delight to have finally eaten at Pizza Hut once more. and lo, a new menu item! presenting, the Bruschetta (bru-sket-ta).

with all the yummy goodness of slightly crushed tomatoes, basil leaves and olive oil. the Pizza Hut version has lots of garlic and mushroom. fine with me. the best bruschetta i have ever tasted was from my favorite La Tegola Restorante. eating bruschetta at La Tegola's Busay branch -- with a view of the whole city below you -- is one of my finest culinary experiences.

here's the recipe.

home, finally

2008-06-15T14:24:00.003+08:00

choy sum, yum yum

2008-06-09T21:45:00.002+08:00

this is my absolute favorite dish here in HK. it's also one of the simplest to prepare. it's actually just Choy Sum (Chinese Flowering Cabbage) in oyster sauce. i find that it is best to eat it with chopsticks.

got online and found the recipe.

Kung Fu Kid

2008-06-09T19:38:00.005+08:00

i got dodong this traditional chinese shirt. it has matching pants. it's quite pricey at $150 (i haggled from $179). but check out the embroidery.

can't wait to try it on him. wahahaha...

now this is just horrific

2008-06-09T19:00:00.002+08:00

(Photo AFP)

Hong Kong news is going crazy over this story. for a Filipino, i am shocked that something like this could happen. after all, i come from a culture that can well be described as "happy" and "light-hearted", statistically anyway. i cannot imagine that someone literally will go mad and kill everyone in sight. you can say things like, "Mapatay tika!" in Cebuano, but nobody will believe you mean that really. at best it's just you being all melodramatic and hyperbolic.

i have 3 explanations in my head:
1. the killer is an otaku. now i have many otaku friends, i work with a couple in the office. truth be told, i don't feel particularly insecure around them, they are good company actually. so i don't think the killer's otaku-ness did it for him.
2. the killer is mentally ill. for this, we shall wait for the psychiatric assessment results.
3. Japan. ah, the country of shame-phobia. much can be said about this, at the risk of offending the Japanese people. (actually, much can be said of the Filipinos at the risk of offending me.) statistically, Hong Kong and Japan in fact are quite high up in the rank of suicide rates per country. i have two theories about this: too much order makes life boring and being far-removed from nature. (the former is actually a corollary of the second.)

in any case, i am deeply sad and horrified by this incident. i dread the day that someone will invariably attack me or any of my loved ones in the streets. nothing can be done but to pray for the victims. but most especially, for the killer. my thoughts go out to him. that is still somebody's beloved child right there.

Beijing 2008

2008-06-09T01:47:00.003+08:00

now, there is no reason why we must jeopardize the success of the Olympics because we have issues with China. China is China, and the Olympics is Olympics. two absolutely different things. so relax, let China have its way with the games. should be fine really. having 5 mascots is a bit... hmm.. unorthodox, yes.. but you know.. at least one is a panda.

note really cute kid in green shirt. he spoke Mandarin (i could tell!!!), which means he came from the Mainland. teheee...

Mong Kok

2008-06-09T01:13:00.005+08:00

Mong Kok is the busiest place in Hong Kong. i thought Causeway Bay was something, but Mong Kok! in one night, i spent almost a grand buying beautiful things for my beautiful pips back home. it's like a money magnet! everyone has one single interest in mind: make you fork over whatever amount you have been religiously keeping in your wallet. in Lady's Market, there's a lady who wanted to sell me little magnet souvenirs for $39. i walked away, and she shouted, "OK, $10 la!!" haha.

Mong Kok also has yummy food. of course! it doesn't ever want you to get hungry, else you might want to go home and stop shopping.

where do all these people come from? they walk and walk and walk and never seem to keep still. everywhere else in Hong Kong, pedestrians have to wait for vehicles to stop so they can cross the street. not in Mong Kok. cars pile up to wait for people to clear the way.

chinese fast food. hehe..

if you are in a budget and you are staying somewhere in North Point, take my advise: Take any tram that heads to Western Market ($2). disembark near Prince's Building in Central. walk the footbridge towards Star Ferry in Central Pier. take the ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui ($2.20 upperdeck). near the Peninsula Hotel, take the Number 2 or Number 9 bus and disembark at Mong Kok station MTR ($4.40). there you go, Mong Kok for less than $10!

best time to go is around 3PM. you should arrive there around 6PM. eat dinner and take lots of pictures. you will feel your legs giving up on you just about when you get back to HKCC. go to the viewing deck to recharge. with a view like this, you should be OK in no time.

enjoy!!

The Sartorialist

2008-06-09T00:58:00.003+08:00

Spotted at Hong Kong Cultural Center.

fat chance he's gonna see me, so i'm putting this out there. bwahahaha..

picture by Glenn A. :)

Discover Hong Kong

2008-06-09T00:21:00.003+08:00

print on tarp. hang on HKIA.

junk boats are old Chinese vessels that used to flock Victoria Harbour. now, they are up for charter so people can have booze parties in them.

listen to this and fall in love once more

2008-06-08T15:40:00.005+08:00

Vineyard Music - Intimacy

you know how it is that God chooses husband and wife to describe the relationship between Christ and his church? if take we this literally, this CD should be the wedding souvenir.

love songs... :)

jung man dim gong'a?

2008-06-07T21:41:00.002+08:00

i am trying to learn Cantonese from Cecilie Gamst Berg, a Norwegian Cantonese teacher (she also knows Mandarin). i have downloaded all Naked Cantonese to my iTunes. i absolutely love Cecilie!

as you may or may not know, all my teammates, except for one, are Hong Kongees. they incessantly converse with each other in Cantonese. our clients are also Cantonese. they will start talking in English only when they see the consternation on our faces. needless to say, we miss out on all the jokes and small talk.

Hong Kongees are infamous for discouraging foreigners from learning the language. nonetheless, those who don't know English will talk to you in straight Cantonese.

so now i am trying to learn the basics. and i think i may be able to get by in dire circumstances when English may never be an option. of course, i have a feeling i will forget everything i learned next week.

a couple of hours ago, i went to 7-eleven to buy bottled water and green tea. after punching in my purchase, the cashier asked me something which i made out to be, "Do you want a plastic bag?"

I said "m'saai.."

There you go, my first Cantonese conversation. :D

Gei hou... gei hou...

Pig Lights

2008-06-07T11:21:00.002+08:00

really great find!!! you can crank them up at the side to recharge their battery. :)

Black Rainstorm

2008-06-07T10:21:00.002+08:00

From the HKO site:

Black Rainstorm Warning Signal Special Announcement issued by the Hong Kong Observatory at 6:40 a.m.
The Rainstorm Warning Signal is now Black. This means that heavy rain has fallen or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong, exceeding 70 millimetres in an hour, and is likely to continue.
Because of seriously flooded roads and inclement weather conditions, you are advised to take shelter in a safe place and stay there. Parents, students, school authorities and school-bus drivers should listen to radio or television announcements on schools. Do not attempt to travel until the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is no longer in force and traffic conditions have improved.
Please listen to radio or watch television for traffic conditions and further announcements on the rainstorm.

no work.. la~

a tram of our own

2008-06-03T21:26:00.003+08:00

this tram travels along North Point. not sure where it is heading. i love it. feels like a piece of home.

to non-Pinoys, it should read, "Because your promise matters". to all Pinoys here in HK, God bless you all!!!

Beware....

2008-06-03T21:09:00.002+08:00

because it is not just a slippery floor. when you least expect it, it will eat you alive. you will get lost for days. relatives will look for you. and they will never know that the slippery floor swallowed you alive.

beware...

The Peak

2008-06-02T22:15:00.003+08:00

it was a little foggy up there. felt like Baguio.

Central, Philippines

2008-06-01T15:35:00.002+08:00

i am beginning to suspect that when England ceded Hong Kong to China in 1997, part of the condition was to turnover Central to the Philippines. or else, a tripartite agreement that each nation has rights over Central.

a sign on Prince's Building. hmm...

way to go, LCSD!

2008-06-01T15:30:00.001+08:00

this was near Victoria Park... if you want to go to the toilet, LCSD wants you to enter a garbage can. hahaha!

Cute kid wearing Mario One-up Mushroom

2008-06-01T15:25:00.002+08:00

to this kid's dad: if you don't want him anymore, i will take him!!! but he has to wear this very same outfit everyday of his life.. teehee...

The Vine Christian Fellowship

2008-06-01T14:57:00.003+08:00

this is the church i go to here. i actually found it in the internet. it's a pretty solid evangelical church that's mostly English-speaking. it has a really modern flare to its services -- church announcements are shown in beautifully edited video clips called The Vine News. and check out the walls of the venue, quite cool.

today was Communion Sunday. bread was whole slices of cake passed around. you have to actually break them to get a piece.

official site here. i really thought the direction provided in the site was sucky. but turns out it was pretty easy to find the place.

if you get terrified with directions like me, here's the place in Google Maps:

View Larger Map

there is only one Delifrance in that area. ride the elevator at the top of the escalator leading up to Delifrance. Press 2. Voila.

Lunch with Eliz

2008-06-01T14:32:00.004+08:00

Eliz Yim... Systems Analyst, durian connoisseur, softball player, all around jockey club girl, world traveller, hong konger, mentor par excellence.

stay happy! :)

more avian sadness

2008-06-01T00:00:00.004+08:00

readers of banne's blog will remember she has been doing some sad posts lately about birds. first, there was her ruminations on that annoying song Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep. then she did the same thing on Isang Pipit. on both posts, it was quite clear that our culture has been portraying hopelessly suffering birds for a long time now. rather different from the usual Tweety Bird portrayals (but even Tweety is perpetually tormented by that nasty cat).

well, check this out, babe.

i saw this pigeon near Victoria Park this afternoon. it does not have a left foot. the cut was quite clean -- straight and quick. that proves that the bird was in fact tortured by some crazy knife-wielding person.

think about it. cry.

i am thinking of starting some kind of organization against this cruelty. :(

HK doggies

2008-05-31T23:52:00.002+08:00

there are lots of doggies here... some finds:

this doggie got walked in the park..

this doggie got hugged..

this doggie got to be treated like a baby.. and check it out!!! it's a westland white terrier... a westie, complete with a scarf!!!

let me explain my hysteria. i love westies. but there are no westies in RP. i have been raving about them for months now, ever since kathy started a puppy craze in the office. i promptly adopted a westie in my facebook account. one with a red scarf. now, i got to see one in the flesh.. adorable!

look ma, breakfast!

2008-05-31T00:15:00.002+08:00

trust me, these people know how to make bread. all these for just under 50 pesos. delicious!

beautifully mad

2008-05-31T00:05:00.003+08:00

Causeway Bay is just as crazy as i remember it.. spectacularly noisy, smelly, and fun. it's a marvelous shrine to capitalism. you can't help but stand in awe.

and this is in a somewhat drizzly day! can't imagine when it's a good-weather one.

ayiee... i'm becoming one of them!

2008-05-31T00:03:00.002+08:00

Lippo Center, revisited

2008-05-28T22:17:00.004+08:00

this afternoon, i passed by my most favorite building in Hong Kong. my faithful readers will remember i made a post before. up close, Lippo Center is just as beautiful. really, there is no way to screw up a shot if this building is the subject.

and the building's fascade, which i never noticed before..

good building. :)

Condos, condos, condos!!!!

2008-05-28T22:07:00.004+08:00

in cebu, the are only a handful of condos.. i should know since i have spent most of my free time looking for real estate. here in Hong Kong, condos are everywhere. just from the A11 bus ride from HKIA to North Point, these are some of the pictures of condo projects i took:

there are millions more! people here live like documents in filing cabinets. really strange, but somewhat romantic. i remember watching In the Mood for Love. Hong Kong in the 60s is really just as crowded and... tiny.

Did God know Adam would sin?

2008-05-26T21:51:00.002+08:00

like many people, i have also struggled with this question. i did not want a Yes answer, i wanted a No. however, much to my consternation, i could not successfully defend a No answer. a Yes answer presented a lot of problems for me -- issues of free will versus predestination. jayjay said fore-knowledge will not necessarily logically conclude to predestination. he will answer Yes to the question, but will posit the inevitable "His thoughts are higher than mine" to explain how fore-knowledge will not interfere with free will.

i got online, and found a bloggers' post on this issue. please visit here.

i think the issue is settled for me:
1. God does know everything. If he does not, he is not God.
2. Despite God knowing everything, he went away anyway and created man.
3. He gave man free will.
4. Man used his freedom to sin against God. and he continues to do so.
5. But God desires friendship with man, even though he knew many will sin and betray him.
6. But as many as those who betray God, there will also be those who brave the odds and seek Him, and honor Him, and call on him through Jesus.
7. He will gather those who belong to Him so he may share His glory to them.
8. 7 will only happen if there is 6. 6 is only possible if there is 5. 3 makes 5 and 6 possible.

if you think of it this way, you will find that the issue of God's fore-knowledge as the ultimate killer of free will does not make sense. i challenge you to think about it.

happy thinking :)

Road Scene 2

2008-05-15T08:06:00.002+08:00

The Serenading Manong

there is a manong near the intersection of Hernan Cortez and AS Fortuna (more commonly known to locals as Iskina Foodland). when traffic stops, he will approach the nearest vehicle, whip out his beat up guitar and serenade the driver. last time he serenaded me with some Elvis song i don't know the title of. this manong has serious belting powers.

he accepts whatever you hand to him. and like the true gentleman that he is, he will finish his song regardless of how much coins you fork over.

Happy Mama Day

2008-05-12T20:28:00.001+08:00

to the most beautiful mother in the whole world. thank you for everything.

a married couple

2008-05-09T16:38:00.001+08:00

Adobe Photoshop and MS Paint

2008-05-07T22:23:00.006+08:00

lonely days at the office call for photoshoping or ms painting. just thought i'd show you some of my works:MS Paint. made this for Christmas 2007.

MS Paint. psychedelic pattern. based on a wallet my sister got me from isis.

MS Paint. seahorse painting. although i am not so sure if they are seahorses or some other creature.

MS Paint. made this summer of 2005.

MS Paint. my sunset painting. made this some time 2006.
MS Paint. a fried egg. not sure when i made this.

MS Paint. a painting i called "frenzied". i forgot when i made this.

MS Paint. independence day 2007.

MS Paint. my painting of my lola.

MS Paint. lonely planet. made this i think 2005.

Adobe Photoshop. if jayjay had a sister, she'd look like this. [UPDATE: jayjay actually has a sister. but she does not look like the fugly creature at the right.]

Adobe Photoshop. if nikki had hair, he'd look like this one.

Adobe Photoshop. el-el and ryan in their wedding attire.

MS Paint. created for Christmas 2006.

MS Paint. created for Easter 2007.

transparent payong

2008-05-01T15:50:00.003+08:00

Boingboing reported on this massive graveyard of umbrellas in Tokyo, Japan. apparently, a huge storm came and destroyed all these cheap transparent umbrellas. so they piled them all together.

i actually have one of them transparent umbrellas! kathy's boyfriend bought me one from his business trip to Japan. he says they're really big there.

it's also quite cheap. kathy is asking Php 200 for this payong. i'm even not sure if she added her commission to the amount.

i've long lusted after these payongs since i saw the horror flick Dark Water.

Road Scene 1

2008-05-01T14:47:00.004+08:00

(Where we show interesting stuff as seen on the road, en route to work and everywhere else. My daily grind is the Consolacion - Mandaue Highway, right turn to AS Fortuna, left turn to Banilad (Countrymall) and finally PDI Condo. Normal days I take my father's beat up Toyota, or if I feel like saving on gas (or if the Toyota suddenly hates me and doesn't want to work properly) I do public transport. For the record, I think commuting by public transport trumps private vehicle any day. It is much more interesting, infinitely cheaper, and more environmentally sustainable. Driving a car is only justifiable when you have to go home really late: taxi fare actually is more costly than just gassing up. Driving a car is also justifiable when you want to cruise around to impress girls. But if you already have a pretty girlfriend, it is best you avoid this at all cost. Besides, if you have a beat up old Toyota who will suddenly give up on you for no reason, you will be getting a different kind of impression than what you intend.)

In this episode of Road Scene, we have an old Taxi Driver trying to fix his cab under the rain. It is of utmost importance that he does not get wet. So manong ingeniously solved this by climbing his car and taking shelter under the hood.

It is unknown if he successfully repaired his vehicle.

By the way, don't you just miss the rainy days?

Happy Labor Day

2008-05-01T10:31:00.003+08:00

Relax.. Take a break.. You deserve it! :)

CCF - Rock Night

2008-04-28T20:51:00.001+08:00

don't worry dodong...

2008-04-22T22:19:00.003+08:00

dodong's pa will be out of town for 6 months.. so i'm putting up this picture to show our moral support for the kid in these times of fatherless-ness.

my brother (dodong's father) and my father are coastguards. coastguards do that, you know. they go to other places and have trainings and assignments. these usually last for 6 months to a year. my mother said that when my father used to be out of town i never showed i was sad. all of us actually. whenever my father was home, we would not think so much of him, too. we knew he was our father, but we never felt he had to do something about it. hehehehe..

my earliest memories of childhood never included my father. he was the typical absentee type. but i do remember one Christmas scene. it was night time when my mother woke all three of us up because my father just arrived. i was still groggy but when i saw he brought chocolates, i became fully awake. my father suggested we hang the chocolates (kisses, i think) on the Christmas tree, so we spent a good part of the evening tying strings on the candies and hanging them on the tree (before, our Christmas tree used to be a huge branch of a guava tree which we wrapped in cottons... don't ask. hehe).

i don't think our father really hugged us or kissed us when he arrived that night. but i remember very well that he went straight to my mother to kiss and hug her. they spent the evening being all lovey dovey. in my young mind, i didn't know the concept yet, but it was very clear to me that this guy was my mom's boyfriend. i was very happy that night because my mother was clearly giggly with joy. before i knew anything about him, i liked him first because he made my mother happy. looking back, i think i can say i learned about romance from how i saw my father around my mother. no grand gestures or anything. just simple sincere romance.

Banne sent me a quote once: The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. (Theodore M. Hesburgh)

i really, honestly, truly believe this. my father may lack of many things, but not affection for my mother. and for that, i am grateful.

that's what i'm talking about

2008-04-13T19:32:00.003+08:00

i know this took a lot of guts from the producers at American Idol, and i would like to give you all the props. i know "Shepherd" was used instead of "Jesus" for the first performance of the Shout to the Lord praise song, but you guys made up for it the second time around and that's fine with me.

This has raised so much raucous in the blogsphere of late. many people hate what happened, many are quite literally jumping for joy. i think Joshua Harris says it best, "Long after American Idol airs its final show, Jesus will still be on his throne. Isn't that a comforting thought? Let's seek to make him known right where we are."

manila, again

2008-04-11T18:57:00.008+08:00

yesterday, i flew to manila to surprise banne (her reaction when she saw me at NAIA was worth it). i arrived 5.30 in the afternoon. she was scheduled to arrive at 11.00 pm from her connecting flight from Tokyo. so that means i have a full evening to spend in le manile.

but when you're ever in Manila and you don't want to stray too far from the airport, Mall of Asia is your best bet. pictures pictures.....

very slow service at PAL. very, very slow. PAL-SM City Cebu, for your action.

kite things at Mactan-Cebu International Airport. quite cute.

me.

that globe thing.

that San Miguel Bay Area thing.

no unauthorized pushcart vendors allowed here.

dancing fountain.

low-flying light planes above.

photographers waiting for the perfect sunset picture.

my perfect sunset pictures.

Chiggy's!!!! we used to have a friendly neighborhood Chiggy's at Cainta. :)

accidental porn!

Mann Hann!!!

i have this theory that Burger King is the best american fast food there is. (chowking is still the best of all). back in 2000, i fell in love with the (now closed) Katipunan branch. the burger selection is perfect.

they even have charging stations.
they even show full-length movies. i don't know what this does for their business, but there you go.

when i think of manila, i remember long long long queues at the grocery. that was back when i used to do my own groceries.

attention makers of Queensland Butter, please distribute in Cebu City!!! my mother will insist on having me horde on your delicious butter every time i'm in manila.

the Heritage Hotel.

the mini bar. no alcohol was consumed here.

SHE'S BAAAAAAAACK!!!!

you are ember to my charcoal

2008-04-08T21:12:00.002+08:00

scream at the stars
their lights are mocking
this darkened world
this blackened body
this soul like mud
craving
wanting
the heat of little flames
that the stars mock too.

(aug 22, 2005 -- i can't remember what happened that day.)

If you are ever in a bad mood...

2008-04-05T01:28:00.000+08:00

things learned today

2008-04-01T15:49:00.007+08:00

this morning, i felt pain in my chest and felt quite feverish. i called in sick for work.

i got up before everyone else did. mama woke up and cooked. dodong woke up and wrecked the sala. at this point i was feeling stunned and bruised. dodong kept going on and on about a floater he wanted bought. you see my little nephew never forgets a promise. my mom promised him a floater and a Kung Fu Kids t-shirt (hehe) if he participates well in their school's culmination activity. well, he participated well enough (see previous post), so now he wants his payback. i reasoned it will be useless buying a floater if we are not going to the beach anyway. my mom seconded from the kitchen.

i stared at this glorious raucous for a good moment, and then it hit me. i have been spending less and less time with my family. most of my time was spent at work, and doing things i really felt were very important. i have scrimped on my finances putting priority on my savings for plans i thought were very important. now, stunned and bruised, i saw how i have made myself scarce to the people i share blood with.

i rounded them all, and announced i was treating everybody to the beach. the hell with my savings.

Tambuli East, Tambuli West and Cebu Beach Club are some of Cebu's best little secrets. combined, these resorts offer you more than 5 giant swimming pools and beach amenities. these are beautifully planned pools, some with jacuzzi.

when you're with family, everyone can tell if something bothers you (in my case, the zinging pain in my chest and upper abdominals). when everybody is having fun, you should never dampen the spirit by acting like some pooper. so i settled into one of them fountain things and pretended to smile. nobody really knows you ache when you have pool water flooding your eyes.

my mother has been pretty adept at my phone camera. she shot the picture above and below.

after lunch, i was feeling worst than ever, so i settled into one of the recliners beside a pool which was being chlorinated. nobody was swimming in it, so it was divinely peaceful. the sign reads "UNDER TREATMENT".

i envied the pool. i wish there was a treatment facility for whatever i had. i came up with one cure to this ailment. i hope it's not fatal.

i woke up and felt a little better. the pain is still there but i know i have my family to count on. guys, don't ignore your families. very few people will risk life and limb for you. your homies might not always get along, but they sure as hell won't let you down.

splitting image. yes?

yet another dodong pic

2008-03-30T21:46:00.002+08:00

Here's a watermelon to quench your summer thirst. Enjoy!

Bring the Summer Into Your Office!

2008-03-28T00:36:00.007+08:00

1. Bring lots of citrus-y fruits to the office. Consume with haste. Burp.

2. Fill office mug with C2 Green Tea, or a drink of your choice. Put lots of ice cubes. Top with umbrella toothpick. Drink slowly.

3. Hang summer umbrella on the ceiling. Make believe you are in a beach resort with many computers.

4. Think of a foreign country to vacation in. Pretend you are there.

4. Doze off.

Papaya Dance goes international

2008-03-24T20:00:00.003+08:00

After People Power, this is the Filipinos gift to the world.

Kawasan Falls claim lives

2008-03-23T15:52:00.005+08:00

i was actually there.

i was with my family last Friday in Kawasan Falls to spend the night. Kawasan is located in Matutiniao Badian, Cebu. it's almost 4 hours from Cebu City, but the scenery is worth it.

since it was a holiday, there was quite a number of people -- locals, white foreigners, and koreans. once in a while, some men would climb up the side of the falls to dive. this would make the crowd cheer and clap for the diver. (wherever you are in the resort, whenever you here loud cheering and jeering, you will know someone is about to dive.)

when the korean was about to dive, the usual cheers came. but instantly i knew something went wrong when i didn't hear a splash by the time he should have hit the water below. instead, we heard a loud thud. people began shouting shocks of horror. the korean diver fell on some rafters just making their way out of the falls.

when you decide to go rafting, the instructor will tell you to lie flat on your stomach as you negotiate the narrow opening of the falls. you will emerge from under the falls -- the force of flowing water hitting you like millions of tiny hands jabbing you everywhere. it was in this position the victim found himself suddenly crushed by something from above. it was his fellow korean student.

the fall killed the victim instantly. the diver was injured. someone else on the raft was injured. locals rushed to the scene and carried them back to the town proper (a good 30 minutes). korean ladies were weeping aloud rushing from behind. they all packed their bags and left.

the victim was carried by three men: one held his head, another his torso, another his legs. he had a wound on his chin. there was something white and frothy in his mouth. i remember well. they passed in front of me.

i want to post nice pictures of my Kawasan vacation. but somehow, i don't feel so right about that.

Baba Yetu

2008-03-20T14:15:00.004+08:00

Baba Yetu was composed by Christopher Tin for the video game Civilization IV. the lyrics is in Swahili, and it is derived from the Lord's Prayer. the translation from the net is a bit clunky because turns out Tin really didn't pay so much attention to Swahili grammar.

big note: the first line from the Chorus should have read, "Baba yetu, Yesu uliye" -- Yesu is Jesus in Swahili. it changed to "yetu" due to recording changes.

i love this song!

Here are the lyrics with translation:

CHORUS
Baba yetu, yetu uliye
Mbinguni yetu, yetu, amina!
Baba yetu, yetu, uliye
Jina lako litukuzwe.
(x2)

Utupe leo chakula chetu
Tunachohitaji utusamehe
Makosa yetu, hey!
Kama nasi tunavyowasamehe
Waliotukosea usitutie
Katika majaribu, lakini
Utuokoe, na yule, milelea milele!

CHORUS

Ufalme wako ufike utakalo
Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni. (Amina)

CHORUS

Utupe leo chakula chetu
Tunachohitaji utusamehe
Makosa yetu, hey!
Kama nasi tunavyowasamehe
Waliotukosea usitutie
Katika majaribu, lakini
Utuokoe, na yule, simama mwehu

Baba yetu, yetu, uliye
Jina lako litukuzwe.
(x2)

CHORUS
Our Father, Jesus, who art
in Heaven. Amen!
Our Father, Jesus
Hallowed be thy name.
(x2)

Give us this day our daily bread,
Forgive us of
our trespasses
As we forgive others
Who tresspass against us
Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from Evil, and you are forever and ever!

CHORUS

Your kingdom come, your will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven. (Amen)

CHORUS

Give us this day our daily bread,
Forgive us of
our trespasses
As we forgive others
Who tresspass against us
Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from Evil, and you wake the dead (?)

Our Father, Jesus who art...
Hallowed be thy name.
(x2)

holy week preps

2008-03-15T21:21:00.007+08:00

next week is holy week. so to set ourselves in the mood, i have extracted these timely movies from my dvd collection:

The Passion of the Christ. this modern adaptation of the last days of Christ is quite good. i have been to at least 3 churches that show clips from this movie during communion Sundays. the gore factor i believe is quite called for. plus the visuals are stunning.

The Last Temptation of Christ. this movie is not the gospel. i repeat, this is not the gospel. this is Martin Scorsese's adaptation of the gospel story. it is very controversial, it has been banned by the catholic church some years back. i know of one person who absolutely had to stop the film because he cannot allow the way Jesus is interpreted in some scenes. i repeat, this is not the gospel. open the Bible and read Mark, John, Luke and Matthew. those are the gospel books.

The Greatest Story Ever Told. i just got this copy this afternoon. i will post a review after i see it. i do know that it took USD 20 million to make this film. Hmmm....

One Night with the King. for good measure, i will throw in this movie based on the old testament Book of Esther. i love that book! when i read it, i had a movie playing in my head. i was pleasantly surprised when i found out it has indeed been made into a movie. the movie, admittedly, is rather lame: script is long-winded, actors over-act, even the title is not good. but the Book of Esther rocks!

does anyone have a copy of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings? or does anyone know where i can get one?

Happy Pi Day!!!

2008-03-15T21:15:00.001+08:00

Today is the international day of Pi. :)

i have no generation, show me my motivation

2008-03-14T22:25:00.008+08:00

the title of this post comes from the great Switchfoot song "Ammunition". this is a reaction to the growing hatemongering directed towards the manila elitist crowd in pinoy blogosphere.

first of all, let me agree to the universally accepted notion that my generation's motivation seems to be vanity. i have written about this before, and i do not retract it:

we are absolutely in love with ourselves. we have learned to equate great looking clothes to a successful career; fair skin to a happy love life; toned body to healthy living. our older siblings' generation had their depression, our parents' had their free love, our lolos' had their revolutions, we have our looks. and by george, do we look good. go to any mall and stare at us in our pamporma attire and tell me i'm lying.

(note that i am in no way encouraging vanity. but i will stand by my generation's motivation. i will not feel sorry for it as i do not expect the 90s generation to feel sorry for its depression, heck alternative music was born that way. the 80s had its yuppies who taught as a thing or two about financial security. the 70s had its hippies who shamed the world of its penchant for wars.)

for so many times our government has failed us. our leaders have become hopeless. my generation has never been really inspired. in school, teachers ask us, "What makes you proud to be Filipinos?", and we scratch our heads thinking of a bluff that could perhaps merit a good grade for recitation. many of us think the church is a joke.

devoid of inspiration, we look at ourselves. we began to make each other our own muses.

that said, i am not shocked to hear about my generation acting like complete fools, prancing around bars, burning money like nothing, all for our quixotic quest for ultimate hotness. i do have problem, however, when people start saying that we are only about that:

Over at Embassy, where Imelda’s grandson promotes Monday nights and the lady herself recently appeared for a twirl across the tiles, [Tim] Yap said consciences were not bothered by the yawning gap between rich and poor in the city.
“There is this mind-set, which I think is so passe, that says: ‘The country is in shambles and the country is having a hard time and you are out there partying.’ But this generation is guiltless when it comes to that.”

REUTERS

i'm sorry Mr. Yap, but you are dead wrong. we in this generation might fall all over ourselves trying to act and look hot, but if there is anything we have not lost, it is our conscience.

in order to see this conscience of which i speak, you need not drive far away from Embassy. near the edge of makati, you will find Washington -- a well-known nook of apartments upon apartments of bed spacers. all very affordable. this is where most of your generation sleep at night after long hours of partying.

you see, when the music stops playing, and the makeup is washed off, we go back to what really matters: we party to de-stress from work; work is employment; employment earns us money; money is what we spend for -- who else -- our families. most of our hard-earned money goes to our siblings' education, our lola's medication, our parent's needs.

think of the thousands of filipino nurses who go abroad. we go on and on about the nurses helping the country's economy -- the new heroes of the nation. this is the fact: they are leaving the country not because they care for our nation, they do that because they care for their families! that's a different story altogether, although no less heroic.

this generation has gotten tired of people power. we have stopped believing that a change in governance will feed the poor of the nation, solve graft and corruption and make the Philippines a First World Country!

we have disillusioned ourselves from thinking we can change the whole system. instead, we have focused our attention to the immediate, to the closest possible group of people we can help -- our families. and we do it by working our assess off. early morning shift, graveyard, overtime, overnight, weekend work, work from home, on-call duty. heck, we'll take them all! you want consciousness?! guilt?! ask the young people who work for you, Mr. Yap. chances are, some of them are sending kids to school.

so now let me post a picture of my generation. Reuters should talk to these people, not to Tim Yap.

tales of mere existence

2008-03-14T21:55:00.001+08:00

there is a bunch of other videos from this guy Lev at YouTube. Lev, you are a genius!

dst

2008-03-13T21:33:00.003+08:00

(a poem by banne, the coolest girlfriend ever)

the hours do not mean
what they used to mean
here in this planet
where the sun suspends its setting
the hours do not say
where my shadow must fall
but the sand in the glass
fall steadily
and the snow lingers
(anyway)

where you sleep
the clock does not forget
but how do you love me
on daylight saving time?

a rule for kings (or queens)

2008-03-05T22:39:00.005+08:00

tonight in church, one of the verses that struck me was this one from the old book of Deuteronomy:

“When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel." - Deuteronomy 17:18-20 (NLT)

a little backgrounder: here were the Israelites clamoring for a king to rule over them. God says: Hmmm.. i'm not so sure if that's such a great idea. the Israelites say: Come on, we want a king like all the other nations that surround us. Then God says: Ok, but here are the rules....

one of the rules is above. the king will have to do all those things as a rule. even before he will be crowned king, he has to write down all the scriptures by hand in front of the priests. this ensured that the king will know all the scriptures word by word. also, this solved the practical problem of the king not having a copy of the bible for himself -- since there were no printing presses then and owning a copy of the bible was virtually impossible.

the king will then have to read the scriptures every day of his life so he will: 1) revere the Lord, 2) obey the rules, 3) be humble.

i propose a similar rule for the future presidents of our country. any takers?

PLDT MyDSL woes

2008-03-04T20:19:00.007+08:00

with banne out of the country and all, i have succumbed to the added expense of a DSL connection. of course i chose PLDT myDSL, as i have heard numerous horror stories about SmartBro -- the only other competition, in my opinion. of course there is Globe Visibility, but the price of a plan was ridiculous.

anyway, 2 weeks into my subscription, i noticed i was never able to load a YouTube video without having to wait for forever. i never really thought about testing my bandwidth download speed until last week. thanks to Speedtest.net, i was able to check exactly how much of my money's worth i was getting:

imagine that! i was running even less than dial up could give me. at times it would even go less than 44 kbps. to be fair, i was connecting to a BayanTel server in Quezon City which PLDT would soon advise does not have the same setup as theirs. instead, i should be connecting to Singapore's NewMedia Express. well, even that gave a measly 132 kbps:

and so i called up 172, and reported my problem. the 172 guys would keep on telling me that the report have been updated (i don't know how much updating 1 report can take) and that technical people would soon be contacting me. well, 3 days passed and i was getting a bit pissed because i was only able to talk to one technical specialist (who asked me to look at my modem and check the twinkling lights) and he was only able to raise my speed to 250+. i called 172 hundreds of times again just trying to get them to give me a technical specialist, but they would not. suffice it to say, i was angry.

so i did something totally desperate. i sent an email to customers@pldt.com.ph and cc'ed some of PLDT's Vice Presidents! (i could have cc'ed the President as well but i thought that would be going too far.) now, the obvious question should be: how the hey did i get the contact numbers of the top honchos?! well, i will have to direct you to Google for you to do your own research. ;)

anyway, this is the letter (edited so you will not stalk me):

To: Customers@pldt.com.ph (PLDT)
Cc: MEDINA, Jose Carlo A. (PLDT); NAZARENO, Napoleon L. (PLDT); NARBONETA, Jose Rodel I. (PLDT); MAGBANUA, Herbert M. (PLDT)
Subject: Will PLDT please help its customer?

Hello,

I am Brian Magalong, a PLDT myDSL subscriber (under my mother's name _______________) from Consolacion, Cebu. My telephone number is _________________.

Since the start of my subscription, I have never been able to achieve the maximum bandwidth which I am paying for. With my subscription, I should be able to avail of a speed equal to or around 1000kbps. Until now, I average 100 kbps, with a range of 40kbps-150kbps.

I have been following the advertised procedure for availing customer support. I have dutifully and patiently called 172, and recounted my problem many times. Always, they say my complaint report has been updated. For all my efforts, however, I was able to talk with one technical support personnel only once -- last Feb 26, 2008. From 40 kbps, he was able to raise my speed to 200 kbps with the promise that the speed will increase in time. Obviously, his promise did not come to pass.

For the past few nights, I have been assured that another technical support personnel will call me up. I stayed up until midnight last night and the night before just waiting for a call. None came.

I am sending this mail as a desperate last resort. Will this company not do anything about my problem? Won't anybody help? My family pays our telephone subscription religiously. Do I at least deserve a good service?

Brian Magalong

(you will have to forgive the melodramatic rhetorical questions in the end. i wrote that while i was sleepy, frustrated and angry.)

the next day, we received around 10 calls from PLDT! my mother must have gotten a good exercise from walking to the phone to pick up the receiver everytime. the day after that, technical specialists came to our house and checked everything. they stopped short of climbing our poste to check if the telephone lines had been worn out! a Manila-based, official sounding boss called me on my cellphone assuring me that the problem is being monitored and that i should text him personally if i am not contented with the troubleshooting from their technical group. whoa!

and then i got this reply to my email:

From: QUIMBO, Corazon R. (PLDT)
To: _____________________
Subject:RE: Will PLDT please help its customer?

Maayong hapon. Your email happens to reach me and I would like to know if your problem is already resolved.

of course, i did what every sane guy would. i Googled her. assured of her identity, i replied:

Hello Corazon,

Last Saturday, there were some PLDT personnel who came to our house to check on the connection. They found that it was indeed unusually slow, although they did not see any immediate reason why.

Over the weekend, they conducted several tests/configuration changes from their end but the speed did not improve. They said that on Monday (should be sometime this morning/afternoon) a technician will personally check on the line. Worst case, we might abandon the faulty connection altogether and just change telephone numbers. I believe this means we will be connecting to a different "node".

I arrived tonight and found my download speed to be 1Mbps. I am very glad of this, although I still hope the speed will be consistent for the rest of the day. As I write, another PLDT technician (from another "group" he says) is calling me over the phone to conduct some tests. I think they are still working on this.

I have been contacted by numerous PLDT personnel these past few days. They have been very polite, and I would like to believe that they are all doing their best to solve the problem. They have all asked me to keep them posted of any changes in my download speed. Tomorrow, I will inform them of the 1Mbps speed I got tonight.

Thank you for your concern,
Brian

to this, our friend replied:

Thank you for your feedback. Yes, that was one of our Technical Specialists based in Pasay, Manila working under NOC (Network Operations Center). We are monitoring the equipment we deployed and customer's feedback like yours greatly help us to improve.

You may want to give this email to your other friends experiencing problems with our new equipment.

Thanks again,

Cora Quimbo
Technical Manager
PLDT Makati

meanwhile, all those times i was at the office, my mother -- my dear nosy, mother -- had essentially befriended all our PLDT callers: from Manila, Pasay, Cebu, who knows where else. from them she learned that my email has indeed caused a rather large raucous in the mothership of PLDT and is putting unusual pressure on the technical team to solve the problem. turns out, my area has long been suffering from irregular DSL speed connections, and they have just deployed new machinery (forgive the term, i am not an ECE major) to address the problem. one even said my email was a "blessing in disguise", a Filipino phrase to mean "something really shitty happened, but at least something good came out of it".

and now the happy ending:

whoa!!! me happy.

twisted 8 !!!

2008-03-03T23:41:00.006+08:00

today, it finally came. the 8th installment of the twisted books. did i mention i have all of them?

and because "the universe takes care of me," i have ms zafra's dedication:

yup, she can write her name that way. i'm so glad she did not misspell ours.

the ideal man

2008-03-02T17:18:00.001+08:00

Happy Birthday, Ernie James!

2008-03-01T06:19:00.009+08:00

Leaplings don't get the usual number of birthdays, so ernie had to splurge on this one. Here are some pictures:

Jola hernan cortez, near Off Roads. nice little Jola place.

the jola cake which we must not eat inside store premises. way to go with your policies, jola!
[update: actually, the cake can be eaten. ernie forgot to serve it. bwahahahaha.... way to go, er!]

maumau molina!!!! it's been a long while :D

Jola doing a lap dance on the birthday boy

Jola chasing gladys

mat mat. who will throw you dagger looks if he doesn't like you. but he likes me :D

Happy Birthday!!! :)

C- Pinoy Traveller

2008-02-24T21:18:00.001+08:00

My Lakbayan grade is C-!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Switchfoot Manila

2008-02-18T21:01:00.007+08:00

so i was flipping thru YouTube videos when i chanced upon a clip from the Switchfoot Manila concert last Sep 10 at the Cuneta Astrodome. i realize it's way past overdue to blog about the concert. i don't even have nice pictures because banne and i only had our phone cameras along then. so you will have to live with my lame-ass pictures. anyway, here are some facts about the event (from what I remember):

1. mosh-pit tickets are way better than any other seats in the house. yes, your legs and feet will suffer irreversible damage from standing for more than three hours, but at least Tim Foreman can see you from where you are.

2. Jericho Rosales and girlfriend Heart Evangelista were behind banne and me the whole time.

3. Jerome Fontamillas is Filipino. he proved this by downing a balut in the middle of the concert (you can call it intermission). all the other guys didn't like the idea for obvious reasons.

4. before the concert, banne and i were thinking what we will say to Jon Foreman in the event we had to talk with him. i came up with: Hello Mr Foreman. I have a quotation of you that I use as a signature since forever. it sounded like i'm a stalker. (fyi: the quotation has gotten me published in Cebu Daily News hahahha... thanks Jason!)

5. Jon Foreman is awe-inspiring. he repeats one overriding theme in his songs and speeches: do not settle for an ordinary life. believe in something bigger, something more significant.

6. the Switchfoot concert is better than Jars of Clay's. I know, i know... i can't play favorites with these two bands. but i need to get that one out in the open.

7. Christian bands rock.

wow bohol

2008-02-10T20:26:00.002+08:00

everyone had time off work this weekend. we all went to bohol to poke at tarsiers, watch ati tribesmen, dine at a floating restaurant, poke a giant python, and wear funny hats.

here are some more pictures...

... of the virgin island,

... of the chocolate hills,

... of the ati tribe extravaganza.

webcaming with dodong

2008-02-09T20:23:00.000+08:00

so it ends for the fed

2008-01-26T11:03:00.000+08:00

Roger Federer talks to the press after his loss to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open 2008 tournament.

clarity of passion

2008-01-19T20:25:00.000+08:00

do yourselves a favor and watch atonement as soon as you can. this movie is a work of art, each frame is like a painting. of course i do not have to add another superlative to the on-going ian mcewan worship happening all over the literary world -- the story is original and it will not disappoint you.

i love keira knightley in this film, she plays a character whose properly disturbed and nonchalant at the same time. james mcavoy is superb. no matter how his character is suppose to mature as the story progresses, he retains enough boyish innocence to keep our sympathy all along.

towards the end, robbie tells cecilia that he longs to return to her with the "clarity of passion" that they had once shared in the past. this strikes me as particularly fascinating since we often speak of "passion" as akin to a frenzied state of mindlessness. interestingly enough, the tagalog word for lust (which is essentially passion in the physical sense), is libog -- visayan for confusion. in the story, this passion was far from madness: it was single-minded, focused, clear.

even war and deception became peripheral.

goodbye, pig

2007-12-31T21:36:00.000+08:00

i don't like the chinese zodiac or any kind of zodiac for that matter. but i do like pig. and pork. and since the chinese ancients have mystically assigned 2007 to our dear beloved pig, let me say adieu to 2007 thru this picture of my favorite girl wearing my favorite animal. (coincidentally, pigs are colored pink, banne's favorite color.)

Happy New Year everyone! and if you're dumb enough to play with firecrackers then, there you go, you're dumb. Let's all have a great 2008!

and now... a dodong picture

2007-12-29T17:52:00.000+08:00

photoshop courtesy of brian and banne. :P