the field trip

Unfortunately, there are still formatting issues with this template I'm using :(

I still encounter the double-spacing in between paragraphs and I have to edit the HTML to delete the extra spaces. Hopefully Blogger (or the developers of this particular template) will do the necessary corrections to the template and update it automatically.

Until then, I have to keep on editing the format of each and every post ... like this one.

* * * *

That's me and Ikai, on the bus during her field trip last Saturday. The photo was self-taken even before the field trip started and it was a long day indeed.

Our Saturday started around 4AM when we had to wake up and prep for the field trip. As per reminder on Ikai's diary, we had to be at St. Paul College - Makati early in order to get good seats. They were implementing a first come, first served basis and latecomers were accommodated on other buses mixed with the other latecomers from the NKP (nursery-kinder-prep) levels. Of course, I wanted Ikai to be with her teacher and her classmates so we were at St. Paul at 5:45AM, 15 minutes earlier than the assembly time. Even at such an early time, we were already number 7 on the line.

The itinerary for the day -- Museo ng Katipunan in San Juan, Goldilocks branch in Mandaluyong for a cake-decoration session, Tiendesitas for lunch, Meralco Museum, and finally Mall of Asia for the Science Discovery Center and the fireworks.

The trip was tiring from the start. That's because the first stop was already a crowded affair. When we got to Museo ng Katipunan, other field trippers from other schools were already there and we had to wait for almost an hour just to do the 10-minute trip inside the museum. It was a harried and hassled walk inside the Katipunan museum with largely nothing registering as memorable. The wait on the line was longer than the time it took to tour the museum. IMHO, a complete waste.

Ikai and her mamon cake

We then moved to Goldilocks in Mandaluyong, fronting their factory, where the kids and their chaperons had a chance to do some decorating. However, it wasn't a cake that was decorated but mamons (puffy chiffon cake). Each person -- kid and chaperon -- were given a mamon cake each, icing was provided, and additional decors were given.

While the decorating session was interesting enough, what would've made it more fun was if the number of people participating was reduced. We were like over a hundred pairs packed sardine-like in the Goldi branch (for the duration, they didn't accept walk-ins and dine-in customers) and the kids didn't get to handle the icing bags themselves. There was an actual demo being done by one of Goldi's decorators but the facilitators of the tour didn't "teach" the kids how to decorate their mamons. Each pair had to rely on their own creativity.

After Goldilocks, Tiendesitas was the next stopover ... for lunch. A lot of the field trippers brought their own baons just like us. And I noticed, that just like us, many had adobo-like viands on hand. Adobo is the ultimate ulam because it is food that stays fresh for quite some time.

After lunch, the troop headed to Meralco Museum for a lesson in the history of electrification in the Philippines.

The picture on the left is a tranvia which Meralco operated in the early 1900s. Running on tracks on the streets of Escolta, it was the first mass transport system at the turn of the century, decades before jeepneys became the kings of the roads. Thinking about it, the tranvia would've made more sense, in my opinion. Imagine today's EDSA running a tranvia track -- of course, the coaches would be air-conditioned now and probably faster but at least old Calle Hunyo 19 (the first name of EDSA according to our tour guide) would be congestion-free and we won't have the eye-sore that is the MRT track overhead and under. Future planning for our mass transport system should've been undertaken eons ago.

And since I have a burgeoning passion for old cars (of the 1:64 scale), I can't help but snap a photo of this old Meralco service truck.

If I'm not mistaken, it's an old Ford -- reconstructed and reconditioned. I would've liked to have my photo taken with it but alas, with over 50 kids running all over it, I had to content myself with photos.

Just a thought -- Meralco is now owned by the MVP group ... if they also manage to bag the MRT and LRT operational concessions, then it would bring electricity and tracked mass transport together again under one umbrella. Meralco can again become the Metropolitan Railway and Lighting Company.

From Meralco, we headed to MOA for a trip to the Science Discovery Center which I think all the kids enjoyed because of the interactivity of the different science galleries. There were mini-classes held before the kids were released to enjoy the different amenities of each learning module. However, with so many kids and just a few amenities, there were a lot of grumpy kids. Ikai herself wasn't able to play with a lot of the gadgets as other kids managed to get their hands on these first. She complained to me that the other kids didn't want to share but there was nothing I could do.

Ikai with the astronaut statue

She especially got pissed when kids didn't give her a turn on using the tongs to pick out a bone from a "patient" in the Grossology gallery. She got irked again when she wasn't given a turn on the flight simulator and nearly cried when she wasn't able to hold one of the "interactive screens" of the Vibal-sponsored iPlay iLearn Hub.

Ikai thoroughly enjoyed the gallery Spaceship Earth where she and her classmates virtually helped Baby Polar Bear cross the broken ice floats to get to its Mother Polar Bear. She also got her kicks out of the motion-detector-powered modules such as the SMART Media Center, and one of the interactive features in the Grossology gallery.

We did miss out on the fireworks.

It rained by the time we reached MOA but the main reason we missed the fireworks was because we were still inside the Planetarium Digistar Theater when the fireworks were unleashed. Unfortunately, SM did their fireworks on time and by the time we finished the Sesame Street film showing, it was already 7:15. The fireworks happened 15 minutes earlier, on the dot.

It was a tiring trip, no doubt. It wasn't a completely fun trip but I think Ikai enjoyed it somehow. Especially since she got to ride the ferris wheel.

However next time, I do hope there'll be better places to visit. The Museo ng Katipunan would've been worthwhile if there were only a few people and the visit was maximized. Ikai's field trip to the Krispy Kreme factory last year in her old school was better than the Goldilock's one. The trip to the Science Discovery Center would've been funner if again, there were fewer kids (including other field trippers from other schools) and there was enough stuff for kids to play with. If, for example, there was only one school going to the SDC, I would've broken the entire class into groups of fives and dispersed these groups to the different galleries -- not the entire class sitting in one module because what you wanted the kids to enjoy was the experience.

More photos of the field trip on my FB photos page.

monday mumblings: iloilo trip -- batchoy, brian, and coffee; comics on the reading list

I've not been reading any books of late because I've been rather hooked to reading (backtracking) on the events in DC comics. Right now I'm working on getting through the pre-Infinite Crisis series of books. As can be seen on the right side of this blog, I'm currently reading The Return of Donna Troy, one of the books that tie-in to the whole Infinite Crisis and after this 4-issuer, I'll get on to Villains United before I finally read Infinite Crisis proper and the ensuing 52 (and 52 Aftermath).

When I'm done with 52, I'll be proceeding to Final Crisis.


The unfortunate victim of my sudden turnaround to comics is A Game of Thrones which continues to be unread despite having traveled with me to Iloilo and Roxas City last week.

* * * *

Desk-work brought me back to Iloilo City last Wednesday.

My last visit to the place was I think late 2004 when I went there with the then RP National Basketball team coached by Boycie Zamar and bankrolled by Cebuana Lhuillier, my former desk. We were in Iloilo for the "Try-Outs ng Bayan" along with then the young national players of which I remember only Dennis Madrid, Celino Cruz, Marc Pingris, and Cyrus Baguio.

Last week, work again found me in Iloilo albeit for a quick stay (unlike the 2004 stay which was, if I remember correctly, 5 days). I had to visit our Iloilo branch and see what improvements can be done on the marketing-advertising side. I planed into the city on the noon-time PAL flight and was at the branch by 2:30pm. After an hour and a half and a dozen or so photos of the branch, I then had to kill time before meeting up with my pal, Brian, later that evening.

So, I undertook a mission I had promised to do -- sample the local coffee shops.

I was aiming to sample at least a couple of coffee shops but due to time constraint and the fact that the night plans changed abruptly, I was only able to check out Coffeebreak.

Near the Desk's branch was a branch of Coffeebreak which I promptly went to for a late lunch (I had just realized that I hadn't had a proper lunch as the flight was right smack in the middle of lunch-time).

Hazelnut coffee with passion "brownie"

I ordered their brew-of-the-week which was Hazelnut and also ordered a pastry which CB called Passion.

Passion is a moist choco-cake slice that is more brownie than cake with a choco-layer in between and almonds (or were those walnuts?) on top.

I'm not much a connoisseur of coffee but the CB brew was quite good and brownie was filling. Since I only had enough room for one coffee-type, I didn't have the chance to sample their iced or frapp coffee versions. Next time probably.

Aside from the great coffee and brownie was the free wi-fi at CB. 

Access to wi-fi granted!

I finally got the chance to test out the wi-fi capabilities of the PSP I brought along and after finally getting it configured, I simply asked the barista for wi-fi access and in minutes I was happily surfing away.

Using the PSP to connect to the internet shows one that not all websites have been configured to work on all mobile devices. Maybe the sites would work well on most tablets and smartphones but websites like Yahoo and even this blog did not display properly on the PSP screen. I could not even access the CMS of Blogger.com which made on-site blogging impossible. Fortunately, the mobile website versions of Twitter and FB worked well. Maybe I just need to install another internet OS on the PSP or upgrade it.

Just like any other coffeeshop, Coffeebreak's counter was easy to understand although they were more colorful than your usual green, brown, mocha variant shops.

Aside from passion, there were a lot other pastries and sweet stuff to chose from. Unfortunately, I wasn't there for a sugar-load. The other delicacies will just have to be tested on another occasion.

* * * *

It's always good to see Brian. 

Brian relocated to Iloilo several years back, got married, had kids, and has settled in his home province for good. So, it's quite seldom that we see each other, the last time being on the sad occasion of our friend's death.

Despite my trip to Iloilo being just a one-nighter, I still checked up on him and we agreed to meet later in the evening. He picked me up from my hotel around 9:30pm.

Deciding that coffee was the last thing on his mind that evening, we went instead to a small watering hole just off Loney Bridge (I think) for two bottles. While the videoke was blaring with tunes sung by the other patrons of the bar, we talked about life, careers, future plans, diabetes cares, and other stuff including reminiscing old times. 

After the two bottles and a song each, Brian proceeded to give me a tour of the city. I was surprised that at before 11pm, Iloilo was already relatively quiet, not unlike Cebu which at midnight was still roaring with life.

See you on my next vist, bro.

* * * *

The next day, I got up early, had breakfast at the hotel's resto, packed up my stuff and headed to the bus station for the trip to Roxas City which I'll chronicle on a next post.

* * * *

Everyone knows that Iloilo is famous for La Paz Batchoy. And when it comes to batchoy, the name Ted's easily comes to mind.

Deco's La Paz Batchoy

So, I evaded Ted's even though it was just around the corner and instead tried the La Paz batchoy at Deco's.

I ordered their special which promised a whole lot of extra stuff that would turn-off my doctor. This was dinner, some 30 minutes after I just had my mid-PM/late lunch at Coffeebreak. 

Along with the batchoy, I ordered four pieces of pre-war pandesal. The digit-sized pandesals were more interesting than the batchoy, sadly. These pandesals were bite-sized and were packed. You could use them as pamato if they were flatter. Despite their diminutive size, they were surprisingly filling. And they were baked well -- firm, packed, solid, yet easy to munch on. More like soft biscuits only thicker.

Going back to the batchoy ...

If my tastebuds remain accurate, the batchoy at Ted's was tastier. Although both stores used the same ingredients and are cooked the same, it all boils down to the sabaw or the broth. Ted's sabaw was the more superior one IMHO.

monday mumblings: moron -- not the person, charlie and the choco fact, book to bring on a trip, sicknesses in the family

Alright, I changed my mind over the weekend about reading 52.

I realized I needed to read first Infinite Crisis before hitting 52 and since I don't have a complete copy of IC yet, I have to defer reading 52 then. Makes sense, otherwise I won't understand what was going on when the storyline first emerged in the DC Universe some years back.

Instead, I found an old copy of Roald Dahl's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory sitting in my bookshelf last Friday evening and decided to read it. It's a short read, bound to be done in a few hours (if I get those few hours tonight). 

The book has already spawned a couple of theatrical releases. Initially in 1971 which was entitled Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which the author disowned as the story focused more on Wonka (played by Gene Wilder) rather than on Charlie Bucket, the protagonist of the tale. In 2005, Johnny Depp took on the Wonka character in the more-properly adapted film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which also starred Freddie Highmore as Charlie. I have yet to see the Gene Wilder-starrer but I've partially seen the Johnny Depp and I've liked what I seen. I will have to secure myself a DVD copy of the Tim Burton-directed film version.

Going back to the book, this is probably the youngest book I've ever read (discounting of course the books of my daughters, Ikai and Issa) and in my opinion, is a tad even younger than The Mysterious Benedict Society series.

* * * *

I'll be off on a business road trip this mid-week and while I'm hoping to get some fiction writing done, it'll be somewhat impossible given that I won't be bringing any laptop with me. It'll be back to basics pad and pen style if I do any writing. It's going to be likely more plotting and outlining rather than writing but that still going to be progress especially with a month-end deadline forthcoming.

* * * *

I'll be bringing along for the trip, A Game of Thrones. It's about time I work on this book to see what the fuss was all about and whether the next volumes of the series merit the pesos I'll be shelling out.

Depending on how long I'll be gone, I usually pack one to two books plus I carry a laptop that contains more reading materials, just in case. This time around though, I've got no rig on hand so if the PSP doesn't consume all my free time then GRRM's A Game of Thrones will be my main entertainment.

Of course, there's always cable TV.

But then again, depending on what province you travel or the type of hotel you stay in, there's no 100% guarantee the cable TV will be quite good. Better to have a good book on hand, just in case.

* * * *

Came in late for work today as Ikai had to be brought to the hospital as she's had high fever since yesterday afternoon.

Elvie and I woke up several times during the evening to monitor her temperature which hovered in the 38's. This morning, even though Ikai was singing and dancing around, her temp still hovered in the high 37's so we decided to bring her to the hospital for a check-up.

Of course, dengue is the unspoken fear we hope against the most however, the ER docs said it's quite too early to test her for that. They instead ordered a urinalysis to check whether she has UTI or a viral infection. After finally getting urine sample from Ikai after a couple of hours at the hospital, the doc told us we could take her home and observe her there. If the fever continues until tomorrow, we're bringing her back for a CBC.

Hopefully, she'll get well soon as she has practices to attend for her Twinkler Scout investiture on Friday (alas, I am away and cannot witness the occasion).

* * * *

I was in the hospital last night as well.

My father had flu-like symptoms since last Friday and after much egging, he finally permitted himself to be checked up. Good thing I was in Laguna yesterday evening and I accompanied my folks to a nearby hospital for the check-up.

CBC and urinalysis came out clear so the doc suspected viral infection in the throat area (aka trangkaso) since Papa also had a cold and slight coughing spells.

After an hour or so at the ER, my father was discharged.

* * * *

Moron (pronounced moo-ron not mow-ron) is a native delicacy of several provinces in the Philippines, namely in Leyte and Samar and most recently, I learned from Butuan as well.

It's a suman (rice-cake) made from milled rice, blended with coconut gata (coconut milk), flavored with chocolate, and wrapped in banana leaves and resembles a tamale or corndog in shape. Over the long weekend last week, I was the proponent for the making of moron at Laguna. I helped out of course, helping in stirring the quickly-massing milled rice and coconut (continuous stirring is needed to keep the mixture from sticking to the pan as it becomes a sticky dough-like substance) and in shaping the two dough flavors into small flat cakes for blending later on.

Last time my parents came home from their hometown in Samar, they brought with them commercialized moron which were sold at P75 a dozen -- freakin' robbery considering that the morons were roughly just about four inches long and an inch in diameter. In contrast, the moron we usually make at home are about half-a-ruler in length and somewhere near one and a half inches thick. 

Last night, I went home with lots of moron in a bag :P
Last week when we cooked moron at Laguna, there were still a lot of banana leaves left over. Last Friday, rather than allowing the banana leaves to go to waste, my parents decided to cook another batch of morons so that the banana leaves would become useful. How's that for reasoning? :P

friday frolics: wet and flooded, diaspora ad astra, another writing project idea

Waded knee-deep yesterday just to get home after a circuitous route that took an hour as I my usual way home was inundated. While the route home (had to walk as traffic was on a standstill, taxis where hard to come by, and if you do get to flag down a taxi there's no guarantee the driver will take you to your destination) only had me wading through ankle-high puddles, our street was already flooded.

My shoes and socks were flood casualties but even with an umbrella and a jacket, there was no evading the downpour as winds complicated things. Tall buildings didn't help shield you from the rain as they instead served as obstacles to the wind and rain in that instead of the rain just going one way, the rain attacked you from all sides. Really, while I was walking home, jacket and umbrella, everything was just about pride -- panindigan mo na ang payong at jacket!

Thanks to kind neighbors, in particular Tatay Dido, Big Red was moved to a secure place before the floodwaters in our street reached the sidewalks. Because that would've meant waters would have already seeped into the car. By the time I got home around past 7pm, the waters were already a dangkal (about 7 inches or so) above the sidewalk, reaching up to my knees. So, I profusely thanked my neighbors for their concern for Big Red.

This morning, I took Big Red to office just to be sure. If the rains don't let up and flood waters persist on our street, Big Red will be spending the weekend at the office.

* * * *

Not so lucky last night were Dennis and Pilar who got stuck in traffic on their way home to Montalban. Along the way, while sitting in traffic, water seeped into their car. Good thing they've managed to get home safe and sound although their car is in need of a check-up (doors aren't locking, Pilar says) and for sure, a bath.

* * * *

Elvie also wasn't able to go home immediately after her shift ended. Since our street and the streets leading to our street were flooded, it was safer to stay at the office and wait until the waters receded. The floodwaters receded around midnight and that was the only time my wife was able to get home. Fortunately for her a taxi cab pulled up close to where she was standing (there was no taxi queue) and the driver obliged when she told him her destination.

* * * *

After a long while of no news, Estranghero Press aka Banzai Cat aka Joseph Nacino has come out with an apology for the long-time-no-hear phase and the table of contents for the highly-anticipated Filipino science-fiction anthology Diaspora Ad Astra. Mind you, it's an e-anthology meaning there's no print version (at least for now) similar to Estranghero Press' previous offerings (The Farthest Shore and Demons of the New Year) and it'll be launched this month, or in the next six days.

Diaspora Ad Astra is edited by Nacino along with Professor Emil Flores.

As a teaser, the stories in this sci-fi antho are (in no particular order):

• War Zone - Prof. Emil Flores

• The Day the Sexbomb Dancers Invaded Our Brains - Carljoe Javier

• The Malaya - Dean Francis Alfar

• The Cost of Living - Vince Torres

• Ina Dolor's Last Stand - Raymond Reyes

• Oplan Sanction - Alex Osias

• The Keeper - Audrey Villacorta

• Ashes Ember - Dannah Ruth Ballesteros

• Rizal - Eliza Victoria

• Gene Rx - Katya Oliva-Llego

• Robots and a Slice of Pizza - Raydon Reyes

• Lucky - Raven Guerrero

• A List of Things We Know - Isabel Yap

• Taking Gaia - Celestine Trinidad

• Space Enough and Time - Anne Lagamayo

While some names are quite familiar in the list, a good number of names are new to my eyes and this'll be one antho that would be worth looking at.

And as in previous e-anthos from Banzai Cat, this one has a book cover done by Oscar Alvarez. Neat cover, kinda reminds you of the Dune landscape.

* * * *

My mind, after that disastrous shut-off of sorts last Tuesday, has been quite busy. Another personal writing project idea has resurfaced and I've been devoting huge amounts of my downtime on it (that is, when I'm not playing Zeus). Not talking about it in detail yet but it's partly inspired by Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series that's set in an alternate World War I. While waiting for my wife last Tuesday night, I spent a better part of the waiting time at Power Book Greenbelt with an open copy of Leviathan. I'm about over half done with the book and it's one of the recommended steampunk-related books by John Klima .

Also call in Paolo Parente's Dust as an inspiration. And yes, history -- Philippine history, that is. Already have an idea? It's steampunk, it's set in the Philippines, and involves one great Filipino polymath :P

Keep crossing those fingers!

* * * *

It's a wet weekend, folks. Stay safe!

friday frolics: happy f-day, lists of books, old video games

Happy Father's Day!

That greeting goes for my Father -- Ely Ragandan, and of course, to all the fathers I know including my uncles, my cousins, my nephews, my friends, my current anf former officemates, and all the menfolk I have known who are now doting fathers to their respective sons and daughters, and yes, even grandchildren.

* * * *

Just had to put that out up front lest I don't get a chance to do it over the weekend as I'm not yet sure whether I'll have time to go online and blog.

Sadly, prior unshakeable commitments make it impossible for us to celebrate Father's Day on Sunday with my folks. And even though Monday has been declared a holiday, Elvie has work so that really ended plans for the family to go to Laguna this weekend. We'll just have to do the celebration another day then.

In any case, experience dictates that Father's Day isn't only confined to just one day -- every second, minute, hour, or day you spend with your children is already Father's Day. It's all in the mind, and in the heart :)

* * * *

And since it'll be a forthcoming three-day weekend, I hopefully can find the time to finally finish off the Hercules' Labors episode in Zeus: Master of Olympus and move on to the next episode.

While the game is an open sandbox (meaning there's really no definitive end to it), by completing the remaining two episodes (each episode consisting of about 4-5 chapters), it'll be akin to finishing the game (and then move on to the next level of difficulty). Plus, there are scores of downloadable episodes made by fans over at Zeus Heaven.

After this, I just need to locate my Poseidon expansion CD and it'll be off to Atlantean episodes thereafter :)

* * * *

When I was younger and had less responsibilities, roles, and commitments, there were lots of time to play video-games. And back then, I didn't even own my own computer.

My friend and former office-mate, Noel (Happy Father's Day, pre!), and I installed various games on our respective PCs. Since we were in marketing, we were provided with the top-of-line PCs, Noel's PC a bit more powerful than mine mainly because he doing graphic design stuff. Where did we get time to play? Well, off-hours, of course, meaning before work, during lunch-time, and after work. And yes, we even sneaked in a few minutes or so during work hours just to stave off the boredom.

I remember waking up quite early and leaving Laguna for the office before the sun was up just so I could have about 2 hours playtime. Offices opened at 9am so I was usually in the office by 7am and after a quick breakfast, went on to play. Lunch was also a quick affair -- at times done while playing. And then, staying on for another hour or so -- not for overtime work -- but to play. There was a period I was so addicted to a game that I left home at 5am just so I'll be in the office before 6am to play.

What sort of games are we talking about?

Well, some of those games I continue to play today like Zeus, Nox, and Dungeon Keeper 2. We also played the likes of Starcraft and Warcraft, plus Diablo. Noel tended more to play with action-packed games like MechWarrior, Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, and Half-Life while I leaned more towards simulations including Sim City, The Sims (1), and ThemePark World. I also played Odium for a while and almost finished Septerra Core but games I actually managed to finish during that time included Freedom Fighters, Max Payne 1, and Medal of Honor and its expansion packs. I also wasted a lot of hours on Grand Theft Auto III and on Asterix and Obelix. Noel and I, and sometimes with other colleagues in the department battled it out with the IT guys over Counter-Strike. It was CS that gained the notice of management. Apparently, since a lot of people played CS over the office network, the bandwidth was severely hogged by those playing that this caused the disruption of certain services including internet and email services. That ended networked games and we were back to playing solo.

Those were the days :)

* * * *

Unfortunately, Fully Booked Greenbelt didn't have copies of Philippine Speculative 6 on hand when I went there yesterday noon. They did have copies of the earlier volumes except for Volume 4 so I'll make sure to secure copies of those one of these days.

* * * *

To help me in my book prowls, I've started keeping small bits of papers in my wallet that lists down books I hope to add into my collection. This'll be helpful when I find myself deliberately or unexpectedly in bookstores and book bins with moolah to spare. At least I won't have to wrack my brains trying to remember whether I already have a book in a particular series.

Anthologies and stand-alone novels are no problem.

The problematic ones are those that are part of a series and many sci-fi and fantasy books belong to such. That won't be a problem with books by Brian Jacques which do not require you having prior knowledge from earlier books. However, if a epic story is split into a trilogy or a quad or pentad, that becomes a problem. I still have in my collection volumes 2 and 3 of the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant which I bought on sale but have yet to secure volume 1.

My wallet now has lists for the following:

• missing books from the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques (I've actually amassed over half already of all volumes, just missing the more recent ones)
• missing books from the Left Behind series
• Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Robot series
• list of books under the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica Series by James Owen
• George RR Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series (seems that book 1 -- A Game of Thrones -- is usually out of stock in recent days)
• books from Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld (which like Jacques' can be read out of order but I've downloaded a reading guide some weeks ago that would help a newbie like me)

The latest list to join my bits of paper in the wallet is a list of core steampunk books that'll help one appreciate the genre.

When I get to buy a book from one of the lists, then I simply cross it out. So, these bits of paper will be staying for a while in my wallet as I'm not buying books as much as I used to.

* * * *

Happy weekend, folks!

the oblique observer is being resurrected

I'm resurrecting The Oblique Observer and turning it into something akin to an autobiography whereby I'll try and record memorable stuff that have happened in my life. The stuff I put in there may be serious, funny, or nonsense but it'll be something factual, something that I experienced, something that I'll most likely never forget (except when I get amnesia or Alzheimer's sets in).

Like I said in that blog's description -- Reminiscing, remembering, and recording the old stuff lest I forget!

Hopefully I'll be able to start blogging on TOO soon :) Wish me luck, folks!

tuesday tidbits: sci-fi antho read, discworld, asus and zeus, weekend getaway with traffic jam

Coffee, to me, is like gas -- it fuels my body.

Especially today when my body, along with my gray matter, aren't functioning at top notch. This is still a hangover from the weekend sojourn that had me a bit feverish yesterday and headached that I wasn't able to report for work.

While I now feel slightly better, it's still a bit of touch and go and I'm trying to trudge along gingerly here at the Desk lest I slip into a flu-like state. So, please bear with me today in this here post which, incidentally, is the 37th post for the year -- matching the total number of posts I did last year. In terms of blogging, this year is turning out to be better. We're yet to hit mid-year but my production (strictly limited in this here blog though) is sure to eclipse last year's.

* * * *

I'm pleasantly surprised with the read I'm reading now -- The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction Volume II, edited by George Mann.

I've yet to complete the fifteen stories but the stories I've read so far have been good ones. Of the stories I've already read, standouts include Paul Di Filippo's iCity which deals with architecture and urban planning in the future, Neal Asher's Mason's Rats: Black Rat in which a rodent becomes handy against the real pests in the protagonist's eyes, and Brenda Cooper's Blood Bonds which is about artificial intelligence and human bonding. Most noteworthy for me though (so far) is Eric Brown's Sunworld which, in my opinion, is the least sci-fi of the stories I've read in this volume but is great for its world-building. After reading Sunworld, it left me lusting for more about this world where our protagonist leaves behind the sunny world he knows for the ice-locked lands up north where his mysterious past catches up with him.

What works for me in this antho is that the stories are well-written, well-thought out, and are for me, truly sci-fi. I'm not particularly a fan of sci-fi or fantasy that preaches or dictates. I get turned off when I realize that a story is just another ho-hummer masked with elements of sci-fi. I like my sci-fi to move me, enchant and enthrall me. That's how I felt when I read Sunworld. I like my sci-fi to make me think -- but not too much that it makes my head ache. I like my sci-fi to suspend my skepticism but not too fantastical that I instead blurt out "That's not possible in even a million light years."

Because of the quality of the stories of this anthology, I'm inclined now (more than ever) to book prowl for volume 1 and possibly even try out the other Mann-edited antho The Solaris Book of New Fantasy.

Anthos are great because you get to sample the writings of authors before you go out and buy their novels and longer works. While admittedly a lot of the anthos I've read in the recent past haven't resulted into yours truly rushing to the bookstore to look at one author or the other, from this antho alone, I'm inclined to look into the works of Eric Brown and Paul Di Filippo.

Hopefully the remaining stories in this antho are equally entertaining.

* * * *

Over the weekend I found myself thinking about collecting the books of Sir Terry Pratchett.

I think it's hightime I try and read his books, especially his Discworld series which is one of fantasy's most popular. I've read Good Omens, his collaboration with Neil Gaiman which was okay but I've yet to fully engross myself with a novel. I do have his The Last Hero but I think the reason I haven't really finished it is because there's a large backstory to it and the only way to find out about it is to dig deep into Pratchett's first Discworld book -- The Colour of Magic.

The gargantuan task however is that The Last Hero is the 27th book of Discworld. That means backtracking 26 books back which would mean years and years of reading at least (as I've explained before, I read several books at the same time -- switching from one book to another). However, this'll be a great challenge to take. Who knows, at the end of the day I might just end up being an expert of Discworld.

And to help me get the correct reading order in order, I've downloaded a reading guide from L-Space Web here.

* * * *

After weeks of waiting, the small rig at home -- the Asus Eee PC -- is finally a-ok for use at it now has a full Windows 7 Ultimate version running.

While nursing a slight fever yesterday, I tinkered with the small rig and got it installed with a full version of the OS. It has been running on a trial OS which had already expired and will ultimately lock it but I scored a legit copy of W7 and with the expert advice of a former colleague, managed to install it onto the Asus.

I then hooked up a DVD drive via USB (the netbook being what it is doesn't have an optical drive in the first place) and proceeded to install all the drivers needed to run the LAN, WLAN, onboard video and graphics, synaptics, and other kaboodles. I then proceeded to install the necessities -- MS Office (an old 2003 copy which I upgraded with a download of Office 2007 compatibility pack), Skype, WinRAR, and YM.

Then last night, just before hitting the blankets, I installed my copy of Zeus: Master of Olympus just for the heck of it. I ended up playing one chapter of the Labors of Hercules episode. I missed this game a lot!

With Asus now fully operational, I can now be online as much as I want -- if I want to be online, in the first place.

Months of not being tied to the internet (due to the lack of a rig) has been quite refreshing and enjoyable that I do not really miss going online. Sure, I'll be online but I'll most likely pare down the hours I spend and instead allocate time to reading more books and playing Zeus.

Drop me an email or an SMS if you want me to answer you quickly. I still check my Yahoo mail at least twice a day and my phone is still with me at all times.

* * * *

With Chedeng's arrival, PAG-ASA is reportedly about to announce the end of summer officially. So, before that happened, the family packed our things and headed off to Matabungkay in Lian, Batangas last weekend for a last minute summer outing.

Well, it wasn't really last minute as it was something that had been planned early this year and between Subic and Batangas, the choice ultimately went to latter as it was more cost-effective.

Right after lunch of Saturday, after a 150-kilometer trip from Manila, we found ourselves in this quaint little resort called La Primavera in Matabungkay. Eons ago, you would have heard of Matabungkay as the go-to-place for beach fun. Sadly, the years of overselling the place has left the beach a bit a tad dirty for my taste.

Now there are other "in" destinations such as Subic and Laiya but Matabungkay still manages to draw crowds looking for cost-effective fun as evidenced by the crowds that piled on the small baranggay on Saturday and Sunday (many on day-trips).

The cottage we rented wasn't that big, just enough for 7 adults and 3 kids to squeeze in. The resort allowed you to cook / grill / roast your own food so that helped keep the costs down. It had its own access to the beach, was guarded 24-hours, had reasonably well-meaning staff, and had its own swimming pool which was a major plus.

Like other resorts in the place, La Primavera was primarily concerned only about you inside their premises and they only provide access to the public beach. Out on the public beach, you're on your own. Like I said earlier, I was disappointed with the beach because it was littered with trash of all sorts -- plastic bottles, plastic wrappers, candy wrappers, cigar butts, discarded foils and tins and cups. I guess I had high expectations (it being Matabungkay in the first place) and it didn't help that I was just at the exclusive Punta Fuego a few months back. In my opinion, the Laiya beach, despite being public as well, was cleaner.

The beach and the sea also envoked a feeling of crowdiness. One problem for me was that there were too many "balsas" or rafts that there wasn't enough room for people to swim in. We did rent a balsa for the experience and did enjoy but you had to make sure your balsa was jockeyed correctly or you end up bumping with the other hundred or so balsas also vying for whatever space was left in the waters. Maybe they could've reduced the number of floating balsas a bit ... I don't know. It just seemed to crowded.

But lest you get me wrong, I enjoyed the trip. It was fun. And nothing can replace the smiles you see from your kids who undoubtedly thoroughly enjoyed the weekend getaway (although Ikai did scatter some tantrums a bit).

What I didn't like about the trip was the massive traffic jam that greeted us on the way home. As we were traversing the Nasugbu-Tagaytay route, heavy downpour ensued and combined with weekend tourists doing stopovers at the many pasalubong stalls along the roadside, made the travel one long and tiring stop-and-go-situation. We caught the tail-end of thew traffic jam even before we left Nasugbu and it was a two-hour drive along the winding road before we managed to hit the town proper of Tagaytay where the jam abated.

Now, my hamstring and calf muscles are aching from shifting gears throughout the trip. I guess that contributed to the fatigue and fever I got yesterday.

lingering in lingayen photos

I'm not much of a photo-taker, I admit. Sometimes I forget to take pictures and sometimes I tend to get shy. Unlike others who have no qualms about snapping a few clicks here and there, I have reservations about taking pictures especially when there are other people around.

In any case, here are some photos I did take during my latest sojourn in Lingayen.

Some stalls at the trade exposition including the stall that sold the popular "puto-Calasiao".

One of the stalls hawking a beach resort in Pangasinan.

A good chunk of the trade expo was devoted to furniture-makers who came from different parts of Pangasinan. Apparently, furniture-making is big business among Pangasinanense businessmen.

Several stalls sold sweets from all across Pangasinan including panutsa, polvoron, banana chips, ube halaya, chichacorn, and others.

That's me, rightmost in our booth with two of our Lingayen branch staff. It was freakin' hot in Pangasinan.

One place that was cool was the convention center which featured an exhibition of photographs, sculptures, and paintings by Pangasinense artists. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the names of the artists who did the following artworks which I'm posting here.

Steampunk inspired? A sculpture composed of metal and wood.

Water-color painting which caught my attention. If I recall correctly this is water-themed or something. The colors were more vivid in real-life.

That's obviously Lisa Simpson on the right, right?

A mixed media artwork which was getting much attention from onlookers, yours truly included.

The vivid colors of this guitar-themed painting was a delight to look at.

A impressionist (?) kalesa painting, one of several impressionist paintings exhibited in the center.

I'm sure this won't be the last time I'll be visiting Lingayen, and Pangasinan, in general. Maybe next time I'll be taking more meaningful photos.

books to bring when aliens invade

While getting dressed for work (and being horribly late), I was running a scenario on my mind about the exodus of people from their native land because of aggressive aliens claiming the land for their own (prompted by a news story I read about last night about China protesting the Philippines' supposed invasion of Chinese sovereignty which is subject to much debate as the Philippines also has valid claims to the Spratlys because of the area being just adjacent to the Philippines itself)).

So, if people only had a few hours to pack their stuff and leave, what books does one bring? Especially, for a bibliophile like myself and a million others, that would be a most difficult decision. Asking myself that question and the current stash of books that I have, I think I've narrowed it down to at least three books that I'll be packing along with clothes and other necessities.

From my book pile, I'll most likely be bringing the following books:

• Being Direct by Lester Wunderman
• The Silmarillion by JRR and Christopher Tolkien
• Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross (ok, it's a graphic novel but IMHO that still counts as a book)

How about you, guys ... what books would you be bringing should apocalypse come?

monday mumblings: goodbye leila, new rig, new book, new way to escape traffic to tagaytay

Last week ended on a rather sad note.

Last Saturday as I was getting ready for a day at the mall, I received a text message from a former colleague that another former colleague of ours, and a dear and wonderful friend, Leila Luna-Cacanindin, had just passed away.

Leila had been battling a form of ovarian cancer for about 7 months now. Unfortunately, her body, already weakened by the ordeal wasn't able to last any longer but as narrated by her mother and her husband, she was still being funny and her usual jolly self towards the end. And according to her mom, she just slept and didn't suffer any pain when she relinquished her hold on life early morning of Saturday.

Yesterday, a group of Leila's friends and colleagues (present and former) including myself and Elvie trekked to Tagaytay to pay our respects to our dearly departed friend and console Lei's loved ones.

Our condolences to Leila's bereaved loved ones, including her mother, her husband Obet, and her daughter, Yshia.

* * * *

Our entourage to Leila's wake included a certain 4-year old with a knack for asking questions that demand rather hard-to-explain answers.

While Ikai primarily went with us because she wanted to see Ate Yshia (Ikai attended Yshia's seventh birthday last January), she also got to see a a departed person in a coffin for the first time in her life. While she did not show any fear or apprehension, she of course was curious about all that was happening inside Yshia's home.

Before the wake, we had already explained to her in as simple terms as possible the circumstances about Leila's death, euphemizing death as "the sleep you never wake up from". We told her that Yshia's mom is already in heaven with Jesus and that people are going to be sad and some might be crying because they won't be able to be with Yshia's mom. I even tried explaining to her using science -- explaining that the spirit is like the phase of matter gas -- can't be seen and that this

spirit/gas has already went to heaven leaving the solid / body behind.

Arriving home last night from the wake, Ikai got me cornered and peppered me with more questions.

Apparently, she thought that heaven was the rectangular box Leila's mother was in so I had to explain that the coffin wasn't heaven and that heaven was somewhere else. She asked where and I said no one knows (a hard answer to say to a child, mind you). I again tried to explain that sometimes people sleep forever and never wake up and that they leave loved ones behind and reunite with them later on (as in really later on and not just like next week or so)

I believe in the course of that 20-minutes-something conversation I may have used words such as death, dead people, spirit, ghost, heaven, after-life, etc. etc. but I don't think I made the notion of death any clearer to her.

However, when I closed my eyes for a bit, Ikai suddenly shook my arm and said in a rather alarmed voice, "Bakit mo close yung eyes mo, Papa?".

I ended the conversation (before it turned morbid) by saying that things like death and dead people she will understand when she gets older. Ikai started to say why again but I cut her off with a basta and again told her that when she gets older, she'll understand.

* * * *

The big red car is missing one mudguard so while in SM Megamall last Saturday, I found myself inside Concorde, the car accessories shop hoping to score a new mudguard.

After a few minutes of going around the shop, I found the mudguards but they had no Innova '07 mudguards on display. I went to a store personnel and asked where I could find '07 Innova mudguards and after receiving a baffled look, he directed me to another part of the store and pointed to door sunvisors and promptly left me for another customer. Egad!

To their credit, they had a lot of customers that time so I guess they were hilong-talilong so I forgave the first chap and proceeded to get the attention of another store personnel. I went to one and asked if they had the mudguards I needed. He motioned affirmative and led me to another area in the store, pointed at the shelf and left. Unfortunately, he pointed to those decorative fiber glass

stuff you could put on your vehicle's hood. What I needed went under the car, not above it.

Seeing that getting the right mudguard would be pointless at that time, I left the store but not before commenting to the lady security guard that their store personnel needed additional training.

* * * *

There's a new rig in the apartment.

That was the main reason for the trip to Megamall as we had ample resource to buy a new rig.

But it wasn't a full laptop that we purchased but a netbook, an Asus Eee PC which we scored for a very friendly amount. Albeit, the downside is that it didn't come with an OS so before the 30-day trial lapses, I need to get the netbook installed with a full Windows 7 OS. I asked if it were possible to install Windows XP on it but the personnel at Complink told me that the netbook's drivers were meant for at least a Windows 7 OS. I guess that settled it.

The new Asus is a decent enough machine -- 1 GB DDR3 memory with a 250GB hard disk. It runs on an Intel Atom N450 processor with integrated video graphics. I don't expect to play Sims 2 on this machine but it had no problem running the FB games I play. It's not as fast as I had hoped it would be but then again, the machine does what it's meant to do -- surf the net, connect to wi-fi, and well, although untested yet, I think it'll be able to do your usual MS Office stuff: word processing, MS Excel, and probably Power Point.

For the meantime, this netbook will have to do. We're still looking at purchasing a full laptop but it's not a priority right now.

* * * *

A day after writing that I was meaning to buy as my next book purchase James A. Owen's The Search for the Red Dragon, I contradicted myself and bought instead the second installment of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

In all honesty, I already had The Search for the Red Dragon in my hand at Power Books last Saturday and was on my way to the cashier (with my daughter, Ikai, in tow after we purchased a couple of activity books for her) when I espied the second volume of Trenton Lee Stewart's series hawked on the stands at a irresistably lower price.

I immediately looked again at the price of the book I had in my hand -- Php 379 -- and looked again at The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey on the display -- Php 279 -- and after a few seconds of thinking of buying the two books, I sheepishly returned the higher priced book to its shelf. Sorry, James. Next time.

I still ended up paying Php 295 for the Stewart book. Why? Because I overlooked their ad -- they were selling the book for Php 279 if you bought it with a Citibank credit card. Since I bought the book in cash, I didn't get the discount (on most occasions, the promo works the other way around, you get a lower price if you pay in cash).

And here's the clincher ... I found myself at Fully Booked Greenbelt over lunch today and smacked my forehead with my hand in utter disbelief --- Fully Booked was selling the same Stewart book for a freaking Php 280! I've been had!

* * * *

Incidentally, Fully Booked also sells the third volume of The Mysterious Benedict Society series entitled The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma at a slightly higher price -- Php 285. Resisted the urge to bring out the wallet and hurried myself out of Fully Booked before my impulsive book-buying self emerged.

* * * *

Dreading the weekend traffic to Tagaytay on the usual route?

Take the alternate -- via Aguinaldo Hi-Way.

It's not a shortcut. It's a longer route but it gets you to Tagaytay faster (for now) because you avoid the traffic hassles of Paseo de Sta. Rosa and Nuvali (both ways!).

From SLEX, exit either at Southwoods or Carmona and head off to Governor's Drive. Drive the route all the way to SM Dasma and then turn left on Aguinaldo Hi-way. It's then a straight travel up to the Tagaytay rotunda. Saves you some 40 minutes of travel time and when you drive a stick shift like I do, you would want to avoid the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay road traffic jams at all cost!

It's actually not a new route. It's actually an old route but people have generally by-passed it in favor of the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road because the latter is shorter. Unfortunately, like I said, the developments along the shorter route to Tagaytay have compounded the traffic jams that made traveling the shorter route take a longer time.