As typhoon “Frank” devastated much of the Philippines over the weekend, my wife and I, and Ikai and her yaya were fortunate enough to make it to my parents home last Friday evening before the typhoon unleashed its onslaught on the Luzon isles.
Tough luck for my mother and father who were out on an overnight swimming in Bulacan as they got wet not only from the dip in the pool but from the rains as well.
In any case, the storm stranded my little family in Laguna for a day longer than expected. We were supposed to go back to Makati yesterday afternoon but the uncertainty of the weather and the fear that SLEX was flooded made us decide to while the rains out for another night.
Woke up at 4am this morning to prep for an early morning trek. Good thing my father was in the mood to bring his apo home although it did burn another P500 from my pocket for gasoline.
mad about mmorpg
My inability to get adequate video-game time has been driving me nuts. Thank goodness for browser games – those web-based massively multiplayer online role playing games. And I’m not talking about Ragnarok or RAN Online or that sort.
These browser based games are more simpler in nature and some are even text-based meaning the action happens as you read the paragraphs, the words and the consequences.
Currently, I’m playing the following games:
Travian – build a civilization, nurture your resources, grow your population, defend it, attack other tribes, reach the pinnacle of mankind and become the 8th wonder of world all in 2D. You build up the capability of your civilization by harvesting your resources of crop, iron, clay and wood and then upgrade your village with facilities that will ensure its survival such as barracks to train troops, a granary and warehouse to house your resources, armoury to better your troops armor, stable to train cavalry, marketplace to get your trading and commerce going and oother fun yet time-consuming bits and pieces. That's one of my four cities on the left. (www.travian.com)NationStates – inspired by Max Barry’s book, Jennifer Government, in NationStates, you become head of a nation that you will guide to progress or ruin depending on decisions you, as their leader, will ultimately make. Daily, you will be given one or two issues to decide on and you will hear all the sides relevant to the issue on hand. You chose who to side or agree with, or, if you don’t find the arguments reasonable, you can always dismiss the issue. Interactivity comes in that you can endorse other nations and other nations can endorse you in return. You also join a World Assembly (the UN in this alternate world) and help make the world a better or worse place by putting forth your vote on matters passed on to the WA for legislation. Unfortunately, no making wars yet in this version but version 2 should be more updated. (www.nationstates.net)
Earth 2025 – build, research, spy, and make war all in the comforts of text-based MMORPG. Earth 2025, the turn-based game by Swirve Games is somewhat slow at first but once you finish your first hundred turns, the action heats up as more action options is made available to you and other nations will now be able to do what they want with you – spy on you, raid you, make an alliance with you, or ultimately make war not love to you. (http://games.swirve.com/earth)
DarkOrbit – the only real-time browser based game I play is DarkOrbit, a space exploration based game where you take the role of a novice space pilot and explore the known universes (of the game) and collect and mine resources which you then sell to earn credits. You work for an interstellar mining company and you earn wages by securing the more rare materials. You can also combine resources to come up with new elements which will command a higher price. And your tool? A spaceship which you can sell later on for a better ship or upgrade with weapons, shield and ammunition. Any why weapons? Because there are other mining companies out there competing for the resources you’re looking for and they’ll never hesitate to shoot down a pilot working for a rival company. Upgrade, upgrade and reach the zeniths of a space pilot’s career. (www.darkorbit.com)
Now, where and when do I play these games? Except for DarkOrbit which requires a very fast broadband connection, I play these MMORPGs at home and at the office whenever I have the chance. That’s not saying I’m playing while working. The “play” in these games require a quick decision after reading a few paragraphs of text (as in NationStates) or assessing the situation (as in Travian where I’m managing the growth or destruction of four cities). Just a click of the mouse and that’s that. You just then sit back and wait for the action to be completed or wait for several hours for the consequences of your action to ensue. These games don’t interfere with work but rather help break the monotony.
Hell, even this blog post takes time to write. I’ve been writing this in spurts in between juggling assignments, projects and people management :)
videoke
I don’t know how many people know this but I like to sing.
I may not be in possession of an ultra-fantastic, makalaglag-panty type of voice but at least I know how to hit the right notes at the right time … timing. I also know when to stop when I’m pretty sure I’m doing a zombied rendition of the musical scales of a song and get myself organized and launch into the next line in the correct pitch.
So, with us getting stuck in Laguna for another day, I decided to setup the videoke machine and hit out some tunes.
Now, why not do that in our Makati apartment? That’s because it’s going to be a helluvalot noisy. One person singing at one end of the apartment can be heard at the other end and at the third floor. When Ikai does her usual shouting fits, her voice dominates the entire compound. In Laguna, it’s a house and lot and while neighbours can still hear you singing, it won’t be as noisy as you have all this space surrounding you to serve as a buffer lest you hit a note flatter than it should be.
So, for about an hour or so, my wife and I happily chirped away with Ikai interjecting baby talks and shouts in between songs when she got her hands on the microphone.
vetassessed
Friends and relatives know that my wife and I (and our little Ikai and her soon-to-be manufactured sibling) have plans of immigrating abroad where we hope to seek greener pastures.
We took one step further last week with the passing of my VETASSESS form along with AUD350 (ouch, hefty P16,500 in local coins) as payment for processing.
The VETASSESS process will evaluate my education and work experience and determine whether it matches the occupation I have nominated in the country of my intended immigration.
In my case, I’m being VETASSESSed as a Marketing Specialist. I know it seems like a tier lower than my current GER status but the reality is that the GER has no bearing outside of the P.I. So, after scouring through the occupations list, it fell to either Marketing Executive or Marketing Specialist (a Marketing Director is different as it is a higher position and I’m not qualified for it). However, the Marketing Executive had a component of sales which I was not doing so it’s only logical that I nominate myself as a Marketing Specialist.
The VETASSESS takes three to six months to process and after I get a positive result then it’s onwards to immigration application proper.
