where's my mojo?

Here I go again. This feeling of boredom is quite familiar. It happens to people like me who've been working in the same industry for 10 years. Not that I'm complaining. I love my job. I'm passionate about it. Its just that sometimes, I feel this way.

Maybe I need to do something new.

A vacation perhaps?

Jamming with the boys?

Maybe I should hit the gym.

This feeling has been on and off for quite some time now and its scaring me a bit. I just hope that this feeling goes away soon. I'm trying to keep myself preoccupied with a lot of stuff, but I still can't get my "mojo" going. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

I hope so.

I hate this.

I WANT MY MOJO BACK!

**********

On a brighter note, I'm going home early today. I just called Sophie at home and she said:

"daddy . . . daddy . . ."

Just hearing her say that wants me to go home as early as I could hehe :-)

Congrats Manny Boy!

Pacman vs the Human Punching Bag hehe

One thing I can say about Diaz is, he can really take a punch! I've never seen someone take that much punishment and continue to stand and fight for 9 rounds. Just for that, I think the guy deserves some respect.

Congrats Manny! Si Zorro nalang kaya ang palabanin ng Mexico? hehe

KG and the Celtics boys loves him too!

:-)

professional buzz

I've been hearing about "professional growth" a lot lately. Not only from people in the office but from my friends and family also. Seems that most of the people I know are starting to wonder if there's growth in their present situations in their respective jobs.

When I started working, I didn't have a career plan. All I wanted was to look for a job so I can buy my own clothes, and stuff. I wanted to feel independent from my family and I wanted to taste the fruits of all the years that I spent wracking my brains in school. After a while, I started to read books about what I do (Marketing). It dawned on me that I really loved what I was doing and it also helped that my bosses and officemates at that time were the type of people who had their own career plans. They influenced me a lot and so I decided to make a career plan for myself.

I worked my way through the ranks. Started as a sales person and now I'm managing my own marketing department. I'd like to think that I did well in everything that I did. I was never satisfied doing a job. I always see to it that I learn from what I'm doing. That's why I'm always ready to do what the bosses tell me to do, even though I've never done it before. I like learning new things, not because I have to, but maybe because that's how I really am.

I enjoy what I'm doing, otherwise I wouldn't be here. I always try to go the extra mile in whatever I do. I like pushing, myself to the limit.

Now with all these talks about growth, it made me think of why some people grow and why some people stay where they are, even though they think they should grow.

I've observed successful people and I think these are some of their defining qualities:

• They are aware of their stengths and weaknesses. They know where they stand, what they can do and they know how to work around their weeknesses.
  
• They're always willing to learn. They find out how things work and in the process, they understand how to make it work.
  
• They work above and beyond the call of duty. This sets them apart from the rest of the pack. BUT there is a big difference between workng "above and beyond" to tryng to hard. People who try to hard do not know their own strength and weekness.
  
• They're emotionally stable. These people won't get affected or at least show their affected with whatever issues (political, professional and personal) that come their way. I always say that emotions have no place in business. I've had my share of office arguments but I never bring these issues home with me. I may hate some people because of how they work, but I can surely have a bottle of beer with this person after working hours.
  
• They always have good relations with the people they work with. Never have enemies in the office. You'll never know when they'll bite you in the butt.
• They never indulge with office gossip.
  
• They have the willingness to lead whenever the situation calls for it.
• They're also very patient and understanding. No biases and they're willing to listen, accept criticism and adjust.
• They have the balls to stand up for what is right.
  

I think some people just don't get it. People don't get promoted because of their tenure or seniority. They get promoted because they do more than just a good job, regardless of age, tenure, experience and education. At least that's the way I see it.

If people want to be promoted, they should look at themselves in a mirror and see if they're really ready for it. If they think they are . . . then I think they're not.

People will never be ready. You learn on the job. And that's the exciting part.

I think the best people to say if somone's ready are their officemates and superiors.

Of course, the organizational maturity of the company you're working for plays a big part in a person's professional growth but that's a different story.

I know some people who didn't accept their own promotion because they felt that they're happy where they are. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I think that people who know where and when they're happy are the luckiest people of all.

Walang personalan . . . trabaho lang :D

Digitales 2

I organized a digital film competition called DIGITALES two years ago for our channel PBO (Pinoy Box Office). We wanted to showcase Filipino talents and we thought that the competition will provide a good venue for them. Fortunately a lot of the entries submitted to us were very good. We had all the entries judged and all the finalists were aired on the channel.

Today, we awarded the winners for Digitales 2. Yep, the competition is already on its second year. I was very glad that we had more entries and in my opinion, most of the films that made the final cut were better than last year's. Its a good indication that short-film producers are now growing creatively and we're very proud to be a part of their growth.

Here's our official press release for Digitales 2:

“Ambulancia”, the story of an ambulance driver and his belief that a dying patient can be saved by running over stray animals, receives the top plum in the PBO DIGITALES 2 filmmaking competition. This cutting-edge digital film is helmed by Richard Legaspi. Other winners include “Walang Paraiso” by Ivy Tayag Baldoza which was awarded second prize, and “Shorts” by Seymour Barros for third prize.

Among the finalists in the competition are “ISA” by Ronald Espinosa Batallones, “OFW – Ang Bagong Bayani o Baliw na Bayani” by Noriel M. Jarito, “Kwedaw” by Roswill Hilario and “Hiling” by Patricia Lorraine Rosal. Sitting in the panel of judges are the film industry’s big names: Jay Altarejos (director of Lalake sa Parola, Ang Lihim ni Antonio and Posh), Robert Quebral (director of Sex Drive and Co-Ed Scandal), Gil Tejada (director of Encantadia, Bakekang, Maging Akin Ka Lamang, La Vendetta), Keith Sicat (writer/director of Rigodon), Benedict Mique (writer of Till I Met You, Co-Ed Scandal and Liberated), and Lex Bonife (writer of Lalake sa Parola, Ang Lihim Ni Antonio).

Now on its second year, DIGITALES 2 is an annual digital film competition open to all amateur and professional digital filmmakers to encourage them to hone their skills in filmmaking while providing an opportunity for their work to be aired on television. DIGITALES 2 is a project of PBO, VIVA Productions’ Pinoy movie channel and VIVA Foundation for the Arts, with media sponsor VIVA Prime.

Here are some pics:

Bam!, Ivy, Patricia, Roswill, Brenda Bayhon (AGM Cable TV), Cel Santiago (Viva Creative Research Manager) Richard and Seymour

L-R: Tess Cruz (Viva President), Bam! (PBO Marketing / Advtg Mgr), Patricia, Ivy, Roswill, Seymour, Richard, Ronald and Vincent Del Rosario (Viva COO)

3rd placer Seymour Barros "Shorts", 1st placer Richard Legaspi "Ambulancia" and 2nd placer Ivy Baldoza "Walang Paraiso"

Incidentally, Seymour's wife Eloisa is a batch mate of mine from elementary. We did a little catching up. We're both semi-active during batch events but we never attended these events at the same time. So this is the first time we've actually met.

We're doing another Digitales competition next year and I hope that more short film producers join the contest. I'll try to make the competition more bigger.

Thanks guys and congratulations to all of you for a job well done. I feel so privileged to have met you all!

Pinoy Ako

I'm just wondering why I haven't read a lot of Pinoy literature. There's this movie about Urduja (the warrior princes of Pangasinan) and I think this is the first time that I've heard of her. Yes I know some but I know a lot more about Arthurian legends, Greek mythology, Lord of the Rings, Narnia etc, etc than what I should know about local legends.

Lam Ang

It must be the western influence that our country has. Hell, we've been under Spain for 333 years, then came the Americans who left a mark on each and every Pinoy. My kid watches Barney and, she'll sing more western songs than local ones.

So I've decided to learn more about our culture. I searched google for Urduja, Bernardo Carpio, Lam Ang, Kalantiaw, and other mythical figures that our ancestors have been telling our children. I even found a website containing Pinoy myths that was written by a foreigner. What gives?

And here I am writing this blog in English . . .

Siguro hindi lang bukas ang mata ko pag dating sa sariling atin. I mean, yes I know that most foreign stuff that are imported here are made in the Philippines but still . . .

Colonial mentality must me imprinted on our DNA. Mas gusto natin ang Hershey's kesa Serge's. Pero I'm proud to say na mas gusto ko ang Tsoknat kesa Hershey's hehe.

Sayang. Ang daming interesting na mga kuwneto na tubong Pinoy. May pagkukulang kaya sa pagaaral ko? O hindi lang ako nakikining nung tinuturo ito. Sabagay, suwerete na rin ang generation ko kasi nakakapanood pa ako ng Batibot. Sana magbalik sila nga ganung klaseng palabas. Ayaw ko na sa Barney lalaki ang anak ko. Teka . . .nasa entertainment industry ako a . . . baka pwedeng mag-produce ng ganitong show? Hhmmm Hehe

I feel guilty. My Lolo Maeng (Commodore Ismael Lomibao, PN) fought during WW2. Risking his life for everything that we are enjoying right now. The least we can do for him and all of the Pinoy's who sacrificed themselves is to keep our identity as Pinoys.

I started reading Bob Ong's books a few months ago and realized that most of the things that he wrote about us was true. His books are mostly funny pero what's more funnier is when I was reading them, tinatawan ko ang sarili ko. Masakit, pero totoo.

So, ito ang aking gagawin ngayung taon:

1) Bibili ako ng mga libro na akda nga mga magagaling na Pinoy writers.

2) Dapat may picture ako at ang aking pamilya sa mga sikat na historical landmarks, museums, monuments sa 'Pinas. Teka, pano kaya ako magpapapicture sa rebulto ni Ninoy sa Ayala . . .

3) Bibili rin ako ng mga pinoy comics. Maraming pinoy ang nagsusulat at artist sa mga comics sa Amercia like Marvel and DC.

4) Di ako mamimirata ng local na banda o artist na Pinoy

5) Di na ko mamimirata ng mga pelikulang Pinoy. Although wala pa naman akong piratang local movie.

6) Bibili ako ng sapatos sa Marikina. Di pa ko nakakabili dun e, pero alam kong matibay mga sapatos dun.

7) Minsan nalang ako mag yoyosi ng blue seal. Minsan lang naman talaga e.

8) Mag babakasyon kami sa isang lugar sa Pinas tulad nga Bohol, Batanes, etc once a year. Di counted ang malalapit tulad ng Puerto Gallera, Subic, Laguna at Batangas. Ang Baguio counted kasi malayo din yun.

9) Bibili ako ng mga local kiddie videos para kay Sophie. Kung meron pa.

10) Bibili ako ng Tsoknat tuwing mag gro-grocery kami.These things may not be much pero sa simpleng bagay nagsisimula ang lahat. Siguro kung lahat ng Pinoy ay tinatangkilik ang sariling atin ay umunlad na tayo, not only in terms of economics, pati rin sa culture.

Hindi na excuse ang pagiging archipelago o mga isla ang ating bansa kaya tayo watak-watak. Mura na pamasahe sa eroplano ngayon, pati mga barko (basta wag lang bumagyo) at mga bus hehe.

Lets DOH it!

:-)

Sophie Videos

I just want to share some vids of Sophie that we took . . .

This was taken this morning. I should get a new dvd player


Dancing to Barney tunes


Ring around the . . .

My Baby's sooooo cute! Don't you think? :D

More videos to come!

Sunday Scruby Sunday

What a Sunday! I woke up around 6am yesterday because of the smashing sound of the wind and rain. I rarely watch the news during weekends so I didn't know that there was this big storm coming in. I was shocked to learn that a lot of areas were flooded and there's also this ship from Sulpicio Lines that sank. Out of the 800 people, only 28 (at the time I saw the news) survived. Very tragic. I really don't get why the ship even went ahead to her voyage. Hundreds of lives wasted because of an idiotic decision.

Anyway, when I woke up, the electricity was down. It was cold and damp and all I wanted to do was just lay in bed and hibernate. I got up around 8 and cooked breakfast. I love eating sardines during rainy season and it was a good thing that we had some on stock After breakfast, Sophie and I played for a while until I became sleepy again. So I slept and when I woke up there was electricity already. I still had this SCRUBS season 6 pirated DVD and I thought it was a good time to watch it.

Jan cooked pasta for lunch. Sophie loved it so much that she smothered her food all over her face. I'd get angry but it was so funny, I just laughed. After lunch, I played the SCRUBS dvd and we all watched it. It was hilarious! Jan enjoyed it and was laughing with me. I was even laughing after the jokes were done.

There's this one particular episode where everyone was singing because one of their patients have a brain problem and thinks that everyone around her is singing even though they're all talking normally. It was like watching a musical. Here are some of my favorite clips from the episode:

If you haven't seen the series, you should. I swear, you won't regret it.

We were watching SCRUBS from 3pm to around 8pm. Yup, we were really into it. Then there was another power failure around 9pm. We ate dinner on candlelight. I started feeling a bit bad as I was sneezing my nose off while eating dinner. It must have been the weather. It was still cold and damp and with no electricity. It was such a bummer.

The power went back on after an hour for a few seconds the it went off again. I went to bed early as I was feeling the full effect of the cold that I caught. Jan went to bed a bit later.

Then I woke up at around 2am (because Sophie was hogging the bed to herself . . .again) exactly when the power went back on. Jan was half asleep.

Bam! : "Uy may ilaw na!"

People were shouting "Yeah!!". Then the power went down again a second after.

Jan: "Wala na . . ."

Sakto.

So I tried to go to sleep again. It wasn't that hard. I was sleepy anyway.

**********

I woke up this morning and the power's still down. It went back on at around 9 am. Its funny because the condo where we live in has two electric lines: one from Mandaluyong and one from Manila. Both were down.

I should stock-up on candles and canned goods. Since it's rainy season, this will happen a lot.

Friday Date with the Missus

Jan and I finally found time to watch a movie last night. We've been wanting watch THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN since we saw the trailer a few months ago. So we met at Megamall for the last full show which would start at 9:30pm. I got there first because my office is near Megamall and I wanted to go there early so I can pay my celfone bill and do a little window shopping.

We met around 9pm and decided to have a bananna chocolate crepe at French Baker. We ordered just one to share since we bothe had late merienda at our respective offices, but it was so delicious, I ordered another one.



After our dessert/dinner, we went to Astro Vision to buy Sophie a new Barney DVD. Actually, I think its for our benefit since we're both tired of hearing/watching the 5 Barney dvds that Sophie watches everyday. She usually watches 2-3 dvds per day. Sawa na kami, si Sophie di pa, hehe.

We went in the Cinema a few minutes late but it was ok coz I didn't think we missed anything important. The movie was ok. The effects were great. It was nice to see the Pevensie children again on the big screen. Since watching the first movie (The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) I was hooked. I loved the world of Narnia. I even have the compilation of all of Narnia books.

What struck me was the Prince Caspian movie really didn't follow the book (like most movies). While we were watching, I kept saying to Jan "that's not in the book" everytime there are scenes that are really not in the book. She'd just look at me with the kind of look that would melt the a la mode on the crepe that we ate earlier.

This the reason I want to read a book first before watching the movie version. I bought the Lord of the Rings Trilogy before seeing the film. I was even reading the Vampire Chronicles years before Interview with a Vampire and Queen of the Damned were made into movies.

But even if the new Narnia movie wasn't an exact take-off from the book, it was pretty ok with me. The important thing was the director showed the essence of the book. C.S. Lewis the author of the Chronicles of Narnia and best friend of J.R.R Tolkien, the writer of The Lord of the Rings, always includes religious tones in all of his books. In all of the Narnia books, Aslan (Jesus) is always there to help his people. He always comes to those who have faith in him (like the children, especially Lucy). And good, always truiamhs over evil, no matter what happens. You'd be surpirised with what will happen at the last book of the series: Chornicles of Narnia: The Last Battle. I won't say. . . but I was truly surprised!

Narnia is a good book. I recommend it for kids and aduts. The books can hit you pretty hard sometimes and because of the religious themes in the books, you can relate it to real life, there are times when it may even inspire you.

******

After the movie, we saw my highschool barkada Jeff and his family. His 2nd daughter is actually my godchild. They live in Paranaque and I was surprised to see them at Mega. He said that his kids really wanted to watch Narnia and Megamall has the only theater left where the movie is showing (the movie has been in theater for a few weeks now). It was good to see them and I hope we can get together one of these days. The last time we had one was Sophie's birthday last January.

******

When we got home, I immediately tried to fix the laptop which crashed earlier. Good thing I was able to restore my OS (ang galing ng Windows XP!) and I'm using it now to write this blog. Good thing because i just bought (finally!) a 1 gig mini sd card for my E61 (for only P250, sale!) and I really wanted to transfer a lot of mp3s to my phone.


Enjoy the rest of your weekend boys and girls!

Broken Laptop

I broke our laptop!

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttt!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

My Gulay! I need a freakin' smoke. Lighter please!!

What have I learned? Back up all your files. DON'T put all your pornos in your hard drive. hehe!

Gimmick on a weekday

I went out with some of my oldest friends last night. It was long overdue and we were all glad that we went out. Most of us came from the same school so we were reminiscing about our good old college days. What's interesting is we never thought that we'd be where we are now when we were still students. From being a snotty nosed college kid to being the masters of our own universe, all of us has come a long way.

We started at around 8pm and went home before 2am. I'd like to write about it more but I think I drank around 14 bottles of beer and now medyo sabaw pa rin utak ko. Anyway, everybody enjoyed the night and that's what's important.

Drinking on a weekday is cool. Its a good thing all of us have flexible scheds so we can afford to come in a little late the next day.

Yun lang :-)

It's been a while since I rank Super Dry. Good thing I drank it the whole night. Sarap!

GMA Family Day at EK

Last Saturday we went to Enchanted Kingdom. GMA 7 (where Jan is working) gave away free tickets for their employees (Sarap!). We left the house at around 9am and got there around 1030am. We went with Sophie and her yaya. It was a very hot day . . . until it rained around noon time.

I'm actually not that big a fan of theme park rides. I remember going to Boom na Boom, Star City and the other big carnivals when I was growing up, but we went there to meet girls hehe. I had this bad experience when I puked after riding Anchors Away.

Anyway, I got to ride 3 rides last Saturday: a mini train with Sophie, the Carousel with Sophie and the small roller coaster with Jan. We just went around the whole day because Sophie can't ride most of the rides and she's scared of almost all of the rides that she can ride. She was even scared of the Carousel when it was moving already and it was a god thing that there was a bench behind where we were situated. We sat down because she was squirming while the whole time.

Here are some of our pics:

Nagulat si Sohpie sa dami ng tao!

Sophie: "Wimming . . . wimming"

I wish forever ko maging baby si Sophie . . . ang laki at ang bigat na!

No Sophie, that's not Daddy! Loko 'to a!

Sophie's favorite ride: The Floor

Yup, I puked after riding this ride on a full stomach eons ago hehe

Mommy can't convince Sophie to smile kasi medyo takot sa ride. Pero Sophie rode this 3 times!

Daddy: "Sophie smile!" Sophie: "Ayaw mo . . . Ayaw mo"

Natuwa si Sophie. She spent 30 minutes just sitting there.

Tulog si Sophie, kaya si Mommy and Daddy muna ang sasakay sa rides hehe

This ride stopped just so Sophie and Jan can get off. Ayaw ni Sophie talaga.

Jan and I played a laser tag game at EK also. We played with a lady in her fifties, a girl in her early twenties and a boy who's I think in 4th grade. It was boys versus girls and I was confident in winning because of my airsoft game experience. We would have beaten the girls if:

1) The boy didn't just hide and helped me shoot the girls. It was like 3 vs 1.
2) If I wasn't tall. You have to shoot your enemies on the head to score. Even when I was kneeling down for cover, the girls could still see my head.
3) If I remembered to shoot the enemy in the head. Most of my shots were targeting the girls' upper bodies so I didn't hit them that much.

So I was the first one to lose all the 20 lives alloted to each player. But it was ok since I showed Jan how I moved during airsoft games.

Bam!: "Nakita mo? Bilis ko umikot no? Kung saan saan nyo ko nakikita. Gulat kayo no?"

Jan: "Ang laki mo e. Bilis mo makita."

Bam!: "Ganyan ako maglaro pag airsoft!"

Jan: "Ang dali mo tamaan."

Bam!: "Alam mo kung bakit galaw ako ng galaw? Kasi alam ko na hindi masakit yung tatama sakin. Pag airsoft takot ako kasi masakit tumama yung pelet e hehe"

Jan: "Patay ka naman kagad!"

Bam!: "E kung di ako gumalaw e di parepareho tayong nag hintayan. Walang nangyari."

Jan: "Talo naman kayo."

Ayaw patalo . . . hehe

It was a good trip for all of us. It was like and advanced Father's day celebration for me and my family. We left at around 830pm and got home before 10pm.

I hope we do it again next year!

Friday the 13th

Sabi nila, malas daw ang Friday the 13th. Di ko alam kung saan nanggaling ito pero simula pa noon ay nag-iingat ako tuwing ganito ang araw. Kung titignan mo, dapat naman talaga mag-ingat araw-araw para walang mangyaring di kanais-nais sa atin. Hinananp ko sa internet kung ano talaga ito at ito ang nakita ko sa www.wikipedia.com:

Friday the 13th is considered a day of bad luck in English-, French- and Portuguese-speaking countries around the world, as well as in Austria, Germany, Estonia, Finland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and the Philippines.

Similar superstitions exist in some other traditions. In Greece, Romania and Spanish-speaking countries, for example, it is Tuesday the 13th that is considered unlucky. In Italy, it is Friday the 17th.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή) (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς) (meaning thirteen), attached to phobía (φοβία) (meaning fear). The term is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a simple phobia (fear) of the number thirteen appearing in any case.

Both the number thirteen and Friday have been considered unlucky:

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve recognized signs of the zodiac, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve Apostles of Jesus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness.^[2] There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday, as the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified, has been viewed both positively and negatively among Christians. The actual day of Crucifixion was the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew Lunar calendar which does not correspond to "Friday" in the solar calendar of Rome. The 15th day of Nissan (beginning at Sundown) is celebration of Passover.

Despite the onus on the two separated elements, there is no evidence for a link between the two before the 19th century. The earliest known reference in English occurs in a 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:

[Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; and if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day, and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday, the 13th of November, he died.

However, only in the 20th century did the superstition receive greater audience, as

Friday the 13th doesn't even merit a mention in E. Cobham Brewer's voluminous 1898 edition of the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, though one does find entries for "Friday, an Unlucky Day" and "Thirteen Unlucky." When the date of ill fate finally does make an appearance in later editions of the text, it is without extravagant claims as to the superstition's historicity or longevity.

Though the superstition developed relatively recently, much older origins are often claimed for it, most notably in the novel The Da Vinci Code (and later the film), which traced the belief to the arrest of the Knights Templar on Friday October 13, 1307.

According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. "It's been estimated that [US]$800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day". Despite this, representatives for both Delta and Continental Airlines say that their airlines don't suffer from any noticeable drop in travel on those Fridays.

A British Medical Journal study has shown that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Fridays the 13th.

Halos buong mundo pala ang naniniwala dito. Malamang noong panahon palang ng mga kastila ay tinuro na sa mga noypi ito. Hindi ko alam kung maniniwala ako dito. Ang alam ko lang na tuwing araw na 'to maraming tao ang nagsasabing "Naku . . . Friday the 13th pala ngayon". Totoo. Marami akong naririnig na ganyan.

Siguro, kaya maraming naaaksidente sa araw na 'to ay dahil sa maraming sobrang nagi-ingat at kabado. Sa sobrang ingat at kaba, mas lalong nagiging prone sa aksidente.

Dapat lang talaga mag-ingat tayo, kasi kahit anong oras, puwedeng may masamang mangyari, katulad ng pagkawala ng celfone, tapilok, banga ng kotse, mahulog sa hagdanan, madapa, bumanga sa poste habang naglalakad dahil hindi nakatingin, madulas, mapuwing ng shampoo habang naliligo, masugatan sa pag-aahit at marami pang iba. Lahat nang ito ay nangyari na sakin. Nangyari na rin sakin ang masira ang celfone (yung spv smart phone ko, nakanto yung screen, 6k replacement ng lcd), mabutas ang pantalon (sumuot ako sa ilalim ng mesa para ilipat ang contact ng nasirang spv smart fone ko sa computer ko, tapos bigla kong narinig na napunit at biglang parang lumamig ang mga hita ko) at mawalan ng wallet (na kakawithdraw ko lang ng pambayad sa nasirang spv smart fone) sa loob nang isang linggo. Malas? Siguro nga, pero ni-isa dito ay hindi nangyari nung Friday the 13th.

Siguro, sundin nalang natin si John Lloyd Cruz sa patalastas ng Biogesic at mag"ingat" sa lahat ng ginagawa natin.

Ingat!

:-)

Saturday Madness (batch gimmick 6/7/08)

Saturday was a very busy day for the Pakarazzi.

Well . . . a bit busy.

My weekend activty started at around 4pm (after playing with Sophie and watching DVD the whole day). Jan and I went to Greenhills together with my brother Patrick, my sister-in-law Joy and my brother in law Jason. Jan wanted to watch SEX IN THE CITY THE MOVIE while I didn't want to. I just wanted to accompany Patrick to the store to have his Playstation fixed and just go around the mall a little.

Anyway, when we got there, Jan and her siblings went in the movie theater to buy tickets. There were a number of people in line for the next screening so I told her that I'd meet them back there around 7:30 pm (the time when the movie ends). Patrick and I went to the shop to have his PS2 fixed.

When we got to the shop, we asked the lady to take a look at it and she told us to be back after 30 mins. So we went around for a while and did a little window shopping. I wasn't really in the mood to shop for clothes because I just bought 3 shirts and 1 cap from the Rudy Project sale at our building. Patrick wasn't planning on spending a single centavo since he was saving up to buy a PSP.

We asked around to see how much a PSP costs nowadays. We found out that one could buy a second hand unit for around 6K. A brand new one can cost around 8.5 - 9.5k, depending if its the slim one or the original version. I was even thinking about trading my celphone (a Nokia E61) for a PSP and another fone unit, but I decided to wait for christmas instead. Besides, baka mahiram lang sakin ni Pat, sya nalang una bumili para mahiram ko hehe.

When we got back to the store, the lady said that the lense of the PS2 was already old and needs replacement and will cost around 4K. Sus, I bought mine for 5K so I didn't think it was worth having it fixed. Anyway, Pat had another PS2 unit at home, which was not converted, but he's got lots of original games to play with.

So we went around again. We went to Oddyssey and found a DVD sale: buy-one-take-one for P199. I bought 4 dvds: Dodgeball, Rules of Engagement, The Rookie and Courage Under Fire.

Pat and I went to Starbucks as per his request because he said he was addicted to mocha frap. I bought two venti mocha frap and we passed our time smoking outside.

When the movie was over, Jan texted me and said that they'll just meet us at Starbucks. So we met there and they decided that they wanted to look around then have dinner. Pat and I went around the whole mall for two and a half hours already but, of course we had no choice hehe.

Anyway after roaming around Greenhills again we decided to have a quick bite at Brother's Burger. I say quick because Jan and I had a prior gimmick planned with our elementary friends that same evening at Grilla Makati (Kalayaan Ave). I must say though, the burger at Brother's didn't taste like the burger that we used to eat at Brother's Rockwell.

I texted my Bong Cabrido and called Ronald Dacia both our batchmates, that we'll be a little late. Jan decided that she was tired and wanted to go home already. So we took separate cabs, me going to Makati and Jan, Patrick, Joy and Jason going back to our place.

*********

When I was in the cab, I called up Allen Argosino to ask him if he was going.

"Kanina pa 'ko andito" was his reply and I said "I'm on my way. Galing lang kami sa Greenhills".
Bong was already there wnd when I arrived at Grilla, He and Allen already had a table. Allen's officemate Paolo was also with him.

Hmm . . . . mukhang magiging for the boys 'to a, I thought. None of our lady friends were there.
So it was just the four of us: Me, Bong, Allen and Ronald. Allen's officemate left before Ronald arrived. Four boys with some cash to spare. The possibilities are endless . . . unless our wallets become empty.

We discussed a lot of things that men usually talk about over bottles of beer:

1) NBA - Bong was a Laker fan, Allen was a Celtic fan and of course I am a Spurs fan. We found out that Ronald was a Celtic fan too, when he arrived.

2) Shoes - Yes, boys love shoes also. There's one particular guy who loved shoes too much. Particularly rubber shoes. I won't tell who, but it isn't me.

3) Video Games - Yep, from PS2 to Wii. Boys love video games.

4) Psycho killers - Bong and Allen both watch this show on the Discovery channel about killers and it was quite . . . intersting in a morbid kind of way.

5) Former classmates - Remembeting our elementary kalokohans and the people we did our kalokohan with.

6) Girls - From batchmates to me meeting the Viva Hot Babes. Yup. I'll just leave it at that :-D

7) Guns - Boys love guns. Nuff said.

8) Politics - Every beer drinker loves discussing politics. We also discussed our soldier's present conditions. A bit sad. Brought out our patriotic side.

9) Philosophyical and Artisitic Matters - All of us were deep thinkers that night. We talked about what we really wanted to do, how work affects our creativity and what we want to do if we find more time for ourselves. The usual stuff.

Please take note that this is the chronological order of our discussion. The higher the number, the more beer that we have consumed hehe.

We didn't take any pictures since, I would think, that we'll all look stupid if people see four grown men take pictures of each other and besides, I think no one brought a camera.

Bong went home a bit earlier than the restr of us. The three of us left decided to check out this "Lady Boxing" bar near Grilla. When we went in, There was this big boxing ring in the middle of the bar and some women dancing. We asked what time the boxing will start and the waitress said that it will start in a few minutes. We ordered beer and I thought that it would be pretty amazing and exciting to watch the lady boxers if not for one thing: all the lady boxers looked like Manny Pacquiao (I don't mean to be rude . . . but that's how you'd describe it if you were there). So after gulping our beers we decided to call it a night.

Ronald took a cab home while Allen and I decided to eat before going home. After a few barbecues and 1 round of beer, we both went home . . . around 4:30 am.

It was a nice gimmick night for all of us and in fact, we're planning to have another one two weeks from now. I hope more of our batchmates will come and I'm really looking forward to it.

Cheers guys!

Holiday

It will be a long weekend for most of us as Monday was declared a holiday by GMA. I've been thinking of what to do but I guess I'll just rest at home except for Saturday when I'll go to Greenhills with my brother Patrick to have his PS2 fixed. Saturday night, Jan and I will be in Makati for a get together with our elementary friends and batch mates.

A movie marathon sounds very relaxing this weekend. I still have lots of DVDs and VCDs that I haven't opened since I bought them. Yup, they're still wrapped in plastic. Of course, spending time with Sophie is something that I'm looking forward to. Last night, when I came home, we played for a while. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling very well so I went to bed a bit earlier than usual.

Have a nice weekend boys and girls!

Saturday Gimmick

Got this text message from my friend and elementary batch mate Au at 7:11 am last Saturday:

"Hey! Hey! Musta na? It's been awhile since our (referring to our elementary batch) last meet ups ah . . . how about tonight? Mira and I will go to Tiendesitas at 9PM and watch Jaq's gig. Ano . . .?"

Now I don't usually wake up that early. ESPECIALLY on a weekend. So yes, Au's text woke me up. I texted back:

"Aga mag text a. Game!"

It's been a long time since Jan and I want out with friends. Au and I have been talking about a mini gathering the past week so I readily agreed to go. I also wanted Jan to see Jaq and her band Wodo Tribe to play on stage. They were good, as I've seen in our cable show event when we got them to perform.

Before going to Tiendesitas, I called Au to ask where they were seated. We arrived at Tiendesitas at around 10pm. When we got there, Mira, Au and Ronel (our batch mate and Jaq's husband) were already there. Jaq was in the waiting area, waiting for their next set. Yup, Jan and I aren't the only batch mates who are married to each other. Ronel and Jaq tied the knot just this year.

Anyway, I immediately ordered a couple of beers and Calamares as Jan and I chatted with the group. We were told that Allen, our batch mate and close friend passed by but left earlier because he had a prior commitment.

Mira was her usual self, her voice dominating our table. She's one of the loudest persons (and she knows this) I know, but she's ok. She started heckling me (which she always does whenever we meet) and I also had a few paangaasar for her under my sleeve.

There was this one point when she was teasing me about sex:

Mira: "Ikaw sobrang laki mo, siguro isang position lang kayo ni Jan sa sex no?"

Bam!: "Hoy! Hinde a!"

Jan was just laughing about it.

Bam!: "Apat kaya!"

Mira:"Ows? Baka isa lang."

Jan: "Pagusapan ba yan dito? hehe"

Bam! (looking at Jan): "Huy, pagtangol mo naman ako!"

Jan: "Bahal ka! hehe"

Bam! "Sus! Yari ka sakin . . . reypin kita mamaya pag uwi. Isa't kalahating beses! hehe"

Everyone was laughing. I made fun of myself and I found it funny too.

Bam!: "Au, may dala ka bang remote?"

Au: "Remote? Para saan?"

Bam!: "Para kay Mira. Gusto ko na sya i-mute e. hehe"

Au: "Wala e. hehe"

Bam!(looking at Jan): "Next time, dala tayo ng remote. hehe"

Mira: "Hoy! Matakot kayo pag tumahimik ako! Baka nagugunaw na mundo nun!"

Jaq and Wodo Tribe performed their last set of the night. They performed 2 sets earlier but Jan and I weren't able to see it because we came in late. The crowd enjoyed their music. There were some fans who even wanted to get Jaq's number. Sikat! Good thing that she knows how to handle situations like that.

After a lot of asaran and catching up we finally decided to call it a night at around 1:30am. A bit earlier than usual (Jan and I and some of our friends usually go home around 2 or 3 am . . . back in the day). We called ourselves "closers" because we only went home when the bars are closing already.

Nice gimmick night. I think we all enjoyed.

Here are some pics of our Tiendesitas gimmick:

Ronel, Jaq, Au, Jan, Me and Mira

Kami uli! Syempre!

Jan and Mira. Nag join forces para asarin ako hehe

Gurlalus: Jaq, Jan, Mira and Au

Sila uli!

Guylalus!

Swing!

I hope that next time, more of our batch mates would join us. :-)