On a happier note

Most of what I wrote about in the past few months can be summarized in one line that goes: whine, whine, whine, whine, whine. Been complaining too much, usually about little things like the internet not working properly, or bad service at a restaurant, or the rate my body is ballooning or life not being peachy keen.

Yes, there are a bajillion things not going right in this world, in my life and yours, but there are also a bajillion other things going just the way they're supposed to.

• The internet may be running at a snail's pace, but hey, at least I get some idle time to write about it.

• The service may be a bit slow at North Park, but they still gots the BEST jellyfish and century egg dish in town, no contest.

• And while I may be fat (and growing exponentially so), I'm still kinda cute.

So why complain? There are more than enough reds and oranges and yellows and peaches to chase away the blues. ~_~

Read more...

Have you met Igor?

Once, I had a dream. I dreamed of having a big-ass camera.

And I mean that literally, I actually dreamed of lugging a dSLR from one dream sequence to the next. The dream had me taking pictures of anything and everything around me, with the storyline focusing on the camera and how to use and utilize its features according to the different scenes.

I like saying that I took this dream as a sign of sorts to get a dSLR (anything to justify unnecessary spending).

And so the week after the dream, I did some Googling and consulted friends in the know. The conclusion? Except for one, everyone else voted to get a Nikon entry-level dSLR. My choices were D40, D40x, and the D3000, all entry-level Nikon cameras, all with stellar ratings. The next issue was the budget, how much should I shell out for a new hobby that I may or may not like, once tried? The solution to which was to get a slightly used one from TipidPC.

Cutting the story short, I got one last weekend.


Meet Igor, my new-old Nikon D40x. Bought from a lovely lady from TipidPC who got it as a gift from her daddy last September and was going to upgrade to the mid-level Nikon D90 (she got her new camera the same day she sold the D40x to me).

Here be baby Igor*

Ain't that sweet?

In all honesty, I was partial to the D40x from the beginning. It's an upgraded version of the D40, it's cheaper than the D3000 and my favorite gadget reviews site gave it a 10 out of 10 rating. Perfect for a dSLR noob like me. ^_~

*name from the animated movie of the same title, christened by Bim. See the resemblance?
Read more...

Realization

Last night, I woke up in the middle of sleep wheezing heavily. Each breath that I took in was laborious and required every ounce of effort I had left in me. Sleep abandoned me as I lay there huffing and puffing the night away.

In the quiet of the night, I listened to my lungs clunk like an old engine being forced to start and sputter. The lack of oxygen in my brain made it even more muddled than usual. Silly thoughts were running (tumbling, more like) in my head and I was wondering what would happen in the morning if my lungs decided to collapse right then.

There wouldn't be any chance to say goodbye to everyone I want to say goodbye to. I guess I can do that in the afterlife, if there's such a thing. I thought about my stuff, what would happen to them. And then I thought about my life and what I've done with it; and I realize that there's not much to miss.

My breathing slowly returned to near normal after I took medicine, tiredness eventually took over and I drifted to a restless slumber.

Read more...

Back in The Day

Strange. It feels like I've forgotten to write from the heart. These days, I write with an audience in mind. I write thinking what their reaction would be, thinking about what they'd think about me and about what I wrote.

Because of this, I tend to avoid topics from the deep recesses of my being. Now, I steer clear of issues too emotional, ideas too controversial, and matters too personal. Why? For fear of rejection, for fear of confrontation, for fear of the truth.

It was only a few years ago when blogging only meant putting into words the things you find difficult to voice out in real life without trying to be funny, without trying to increase site traffic, without trying to gain any profit. Blogging was merely a pastime, not a profession. The internet community was much simpler then, with less walls, less barriers.

Back then, everyone wrote from the heart. People blogged about what they really thought, what they felt. Most everyone blogged about the things that mattered most to them, instead of what they think would matter to their readers.

I want those days back.

Read more...

Channeling Mr. Scrooge (A Christmas Wish List)

It's just a few days away until the 25th but I'm still not feeling the holiday cheer. At home, the tree and lights are already up, the city malls are bustling with holiday festivities, and reunions are being scheduled here and there. This particular holiday has been fantastically hyped up, like always, but it all feels flat somehow. There's none of that it's-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year vibe that I usually pair up with this time of the year.

Oh pshaw, don't listen to the Scrooge, I'm one year older but still none the wiser. Hey, it might not feel like Christmas yet, but so what? There will still be gifts come Christmas day.

This post is dedicated to the fantastic, fabulous, gorgeous, generous AND overall awesome people who actually are thinking of getting me gifts this year. You are wonderful. And awesome. Oh, I already said that.


This Christmas would be jollier if I had these.

1. An external keyboard for my Nokia 5800

Touch screens are fine and dandy, but after a while, it gets tedious to type in sentences. I want to be able to use my SmartPhone for more than just calling and listening to music. With a keyboard, I can take down notes, write email, and Plurk at work surf the web efficiently.

2. A mini watering can/spritzer.

My recently acquired office plant, known as Bonggang Bonggang Bongbong (don't ask why), Bong for short, has been unhealthy as of late. I've had me my first dead stem this week. *sniff* Quite honestly, I have no idea how to take care of a plant (or any other living creature for that matter) and I've been using my tumbler to water it. It would be nice to have a mini-watering can/plant spritzer for it. So it doesn't die.

3. The entire Archie Americana Series

I would be eternally grateful to anyone who finds me this set. I've only managed to salvage Best of the Forties, the others have unfortunately perished along with other childhood books when the roof leaked. The bookstores don't seem to carry this line anymore and that's just sad.

4. USB Powered Heated Gloves (Yes, they exist)


Anyone who's worked with me, or has been with me in an air-conditioned room for extended periods of time, would know that my hands get insanely cold. My body can be perfectly warm but my hands would be stiff and deathly cold. These USB powered heated gloves would really, really be nifty to have around.

5. Fingerless Gloves

Normal gloves make it very difficult to type, and they won't pay me around here unless I type. If USB powered heated gloves seem too frivolous, these fingerless cuties would be the next best thing.

6. A Wii nunchuck

Wii Sports Boxing is a hoot. I've been playing against a bot because I have two Wiimotes but only one Wii nunchuck. Second hand ones would work just as well, and those are fairly priced over at TipidPC. And then we get ready to rumble.

7. Boy Bawang

Vats of it. Adobo flavored Boy Bawang is my current favorite but I also like the garlic flavored ones. My new officemates munch on Boy Bawang (to them Boyboy) on a daily basis and the cornick love has infected me badly.

and lastly,

8. Candy Canes

I. LOVE. THESE. I once bought a can of mini mint candy canes and decorated my cube with them. And as soon as cubicle judging was done, I ate each and every one of those minty hardened sugar. And had a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

And that's that. The things I want this Christmas. Aside from world peace, of course.

I'm infinitely cheerier about the holidays now.
Read more...

Short and Sweet

Everyone has so much to say these days. On one hand, it's a good thing because people have an alternative outlet for whatever's on their minds. On the the other, there are a ton of reading material that just drone on and on with barely any point. My short attention span makes me drift off midway through the first paragraph. It's getting harder to filter out what are good reads and what's garbage.

Who am I to complain, really? I myself am guilty of oversharing. I've cluttered the Internet enough on this blog, there's also LiveJournal, I have microblogging accounts over at Plurk and Twitter, there's Facebook , and a dash of random forums. All garbage.



Read more...

Drama Is Not Exclusive To LJ

Tainting the new blog with drops of emo wasn't in the plan. I was trying my darndest to stay as far away from that topic as possible. But tonight, because I wanted a no-qualms audience while I fumble for words, I have decided to use this channel the way it was meant to be used, as a personal emotional toilet, without the convenience of a flush.

Like the song goes, it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Be warned though, this may be the most gag-inducing entry in this blog as of present. That is, here in Blogspot. LJ posts still top the list of things that can make Elmo want to slash his wrist.

After all that intro, I'd hate to disappoint. Let's get on with the crying, shall we?

Before the boohoos, I apologize for the LJ putdown. I do not hate LiveJournal nor do I dislike it. I have an account, actually. But for tonight, it is precisely the reason for my wanting to take an emotional dump.

There are things in life that tear you apart, and once damaged, you will never be the same again.

As for me, what caused irreparable damage was getting a close look at my current flame's brighter flames. (wipe your frowns away please) In less dramatic words, I've read several years worth of very public LJ entries of two people madly and passionately in love, and wrote about it daily for the world to see. Their flames burned so bright that it was awe-inspiring in its grandeur. And because I had an insider's point of view, watching from the sidelines as they professed their burning love for each other, as if I was with them while the fire was very much alive, I was burned.

It's as if watching a chick flick of your partner paired up with perfection. Say for example, the sappy The Notebook. If you've seen it, you'd know that the movie revolves around the story of the characters, Noah and Allie. They fell in love when they were young, and although certain events drove them apart, their love for each other never went away. They eventually ended up together despite all the obstacles. And when they were older, Noah patiently stayed by Allie's side reading her their love story day by day, as she whiles away with Alzheimer's disease, not remembering herself, more so the people around her. It is a beautiful story of fiery love, enduring love, unending love.

It is unbearably sweet, but in line with the analogy; your man is Noah, you're not Allie and you have front row tickets to watch them be mesmerized by each other.

That is how knowing past intimate details feels like. That knowledge has created for me my own personal monster; it eats me, gnaws at my strength, nibbles away my confidence, creeps up on me, shows up its ugly head in the most inopportune moments, and I hate it. I'm beginning to hate myself for it too.

The funny thing about all this is that I have been accused often enough, by a number of people, of being distant, aloof, and even uncaring at times. I AM distant, aloof, and uncaring at times. In all honesty, this being greatly affected by the past, it's a very new and scary thing for me. It is extremely frustrating, because for once in my life, I cannot keep these unruly emotions in check. Read more...

You're scared of.. what now?

Everyone seems to be on a listing spree for the Halloween, so I thought to jump on the bandwagon.

October. It is the month that is usually linked to ghouls, dead people, the dark, and generally all things creepy. But those mentioned are fears common to most, there are truckloads of articles written about them already. I wanted a topic that's not as overused as the others, so after weighing my topic ideas, I settled on writing about people's weird fears (who am I kidding, this topic has already been used and abused). It was a toss up between the top five things we are all afraid of and this. And as always, I went with weird.

So here I present to you, the TOP 5 WEIRDEST FEARS, according to me.

First up, at number five, we have:
5. BOGYPHOBIA

This one's pretty easy to figure out. As you probably already guessed, Bogyphobia is the fear of bogeys. While I too, am not very fond of the bogeyman, the term for this fear just gives me the LOLs. Couldn't anyone have thought of a better, less snicker-inducing name? Something more ominous sounding perhaps?

Next up on the list, at 4th place is:
4. CACOPHOBIA.

Cacophobia's a bit harder to guess, by the name alone. It is, by definition, the fear of ugliness. You read it correctly. Ugliness is scary. How something like this can be an actual condition, I do not know.

Taking the 3rd spot, we've got:
3. CONSECOTALEOPHOBIA

This is the fear of.. -wait for it- ..chopsticks. I kid you not. There are actually people who balk at seeing those tiny little sticks. Imagine this person going to China. And dying.

Now on to the runner up, at number two is:
2. HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPEDIALIOPHOBIA

I salute you if you can read that out loud without fumbling the first time. Can you guess what this is a fear of? Ironically, hippopotomonstrosesquipedialiophobia is the fear of long words. Come on now, people-who-make-these-names-up, this was the only name you could think of? REALLY?!

Psychologist: "So.. what phobias do you have?"
Person with this phobia: "I have Hippopotomo-" *faints*
You just can't give them a break, can you?

And we are now down to last item on the list. This, ladies and gentlemen, has got to take the cake as the weirdest phobia of all time, bar none.

Taking the number one spot on this list is:
1. ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA
You will not see this coming. This phobia is the fear of.. peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. For SRZ. Peanut butter. sticking. to. the. roof. of. the. mouth. PEANUT BUTTER! *pauses and sighs* What more can I say?


Homer has it?
Well, that's that. The top five weirdest phobias I could find on the intarwebz. If you have any of these fears, I am very sorry, but you are weird. And slightly disturbing.

Runners up include: POGONOPHOBIA, the fear of beards; SYPHILOPHOBIA, the fear of.. you guessed it.. syphilis (I would like to think that we all suffer from this fear); and, PELADOPHOBIA, the fear of bald people (Mr. Clean looks like he can pummel you with a meat cleaver).

I'm not exactly one to criticize, because I am deathly afraid of stairs, specially winding ones in very close quarters. It's a weird combination of climacophobia and claustrophobia (someone, come up with a funny name for it already).

What about you, what are you weirdly afraid of?

Read more...

Mii and my Wii

Every time I get a new toy, I tend to obsess about it until all possible research channels (and resources) have been exhausted. Such is the case with the 2nd hand Wii I recently acquired, a steal at the price I got it for (TipidPC, thank you). Originally bought in February of this year, it is an unmodified US unit, barely used, and it came packaged with an extra Wiimote, the Wii Fit board, four original game discs, all the original packaging and a bunch of other accessories. In other words, I'm very happy with the deal.

The Miis

The first thing you do is to create a profile, to specify where to log all your activities, called the Mii. It serves as your Wii self, basically you in 3D likeness. And while making them can take a while, the end result is usually a hoot. Here are a some of the Miis I made, you tell me if they give justice to their real-life counterparts.

The MEL Mii -hair's a little off, but otherwise a good resemblance.

The PAPA Mii -not bad, could be better, but it's close enough.

The MAMA Mii -SPOT ON! It looks so much like her, it's scary.

The BIM Mii -I'd say this is pretty darn close.

The JANINE Mii -I didn't make this one, her sister Jamie did, but it's too cute to not share.



The Games

Of course, what would a gaming console be for if not for the games? Although mine came with a few games when I got it, I've collected four additional games for it within a week, namely:

• Super Mario Galaxy -a gift from the awesome Bim
• Resident Evil -because of glowing reviews from everywhere in the interwebs and IRL
• Super Smash Bros Brawl -ranked 4th in the Wii All-time Best game rankings, and
• Wii Play -bought at a great bargain, a better Wii Sports with decent ranking

Anyway, after getting all those games in a span of four days, I am done. No more new ones until next year. Absolutely no more! I promise. That is.. after I get Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party disc and a dance pad. But those will be the absolute final purchases for the Wii for this year. Promise. No, really.

So far, of all my games, the Wii Fit has been the most fun. It extends the Wii to something more than just a hand game by making you get up on your feet and move. It's also a good way to keep a less sedentary lifestyle, and it provides the entire family with a lot of laughs too (chunky dad attempting to do a yoga pose is a precious sight to see).

This is my tita, Tita Ging and her mini-me, Jamie,
enjoying the Wii with the rest of the family just this weekend.

In too many words, what I was just saying is that the Wii is a boatload of fun!

Read more...

Selfish Acts

09/30/09. This was the day that Kate and I set aside to help out the typhoon victims in our own little way.

We had already decided on a place to offer our services to: Whitespace over at Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati. Armed with a meager budget, Kate and I met up early in the afternoon to grocery shop. It's good to note that noodle and canned good racks were most nearly empty; it hopefully means that what was in the racks were already donated. With our car filled with loot a couple hours and some bargains later, we happily made our way to Makati.

Finding the relief center was easy enough, as it was next to landmarks that were impossible to miss. Right as I was about to enter the gates of Whitespace, a red motorcycle came hurtling towards us from the other direction. And because we were going at a snail's pace, I was able to stop the car so as not to hit the biker. He hit us instead.


*spot the unintentional ad and you get a prize

That's the biker in the red helmet, Joel, who incidentally had been driving for less than 6 months, and was on an errand to buy a pack of gum for his boss. Those people standing around him were my witnesses, all of them saying the biker was going too fast. That's Cherry, my secondhand car; plate bent, bumper dented.

On a cheerier note, the MAPSA enforcer who helped us with this case was Renato (i-forgot-his-last-name); local celebrity copper, that guy on the news who returned the million pesos he found on the streets (he proudly told us this bit of information after everything was settled). The first thing he asked was if the bike toppled over with the impact. It didn't.

He assured me by saying that if a bike stays upright after impact, it usually means that the bike rammed into the car rather than the other way around. Otherwise, the biker would've been flung to the ground and injured. Bim arrived on the scene a few minutes later, he slipped away from work to come to my rescue... by laughing like there's no tomorrow with Mang Renato. And more importantly, he came armed with a hug reserved for me.

It took a good hour and a half to settle things before we went inside to unload the goods. Kate and I shortly found things to busy ourselves with and once we did, we were happy campers working like little ants part of the ant colony, part of the bigger picture. We were joined later by respective office mates and friends, who all headed straight over after work to help out as well.

The goods had to be collected, distributed in family packs, moved to the collecting area to be counted and then finally loaded in the truck for distribution. It was tiring, manual labor, but it was also fulfilling and well worth it. Although what we had to offer was little, we were still welcomed. Everyone of different classes, of different ages were working together for a singular cause. Seeing everyone contribute whatever they can to help our countrymen who were hit badly by the storm gives one a sense of pride; that we know and we've proven that we can come together at a time like this, there's hope for us yet.

Someone told me that people volunteer to feel good about themselves, that it is a selfish act more than anything else. If that is the case, what the hell, then so be it. We feel better about ourselves AND we are able to help those who need helping. It's a win-win situation from all angles.

A couple of weeks after Ondoy wrecked a good part of the country, things seem calm. The hype has died down. Classes have resumed. Adults have gone back to work. Donations come in fewer and further in between. Now, more than ever, relief operation centers need more volunteers and donations. The disaster isn't over yet, there still are thousands of families in evacuation centers with no food to eat, and no houses to live in.

Let us still try to help in whatever way we can. Here is the list of places to donate and volunteer. Every little bit counts.
Read more...