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.

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!

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.

monday mumblings: usok, weddings, blogs, bookpile

Finally, the internet connection at home is back but only the internet -- not the telephone. Well, I guess that's one thing I should be thankful for because now, online plans and programs I've set in motion a few months back can now be commenced.

First off are my income-generating blogs which I think should be started sometime next month as it's already a bit late to start it off this late in the month. That should be a good Christmas endeavor for myself.

I now should also be able to update my other blogs more frequently including this one, the Diabetic Daddy, and Ikai's Crib.

But I'm keeping my Smart Bro prepaid internet, and since I've technically paid for it, also the Globe Tattoo. But it's going to be the Smart one that's going to be my main mobile internet. The Tattoo I'll keep for the novelty of it.

* * * *

The picture on the left is my book pile, taken sometime last month. Believe it or not but the pile has become worst, despite the best efforts of our house-help to make some sense of the pile.

I've added several books and magazines since the picture was taken and the current state of the book pile strongly suggests that some sort of contraption is needed -- a contraption called a bookshelf (actually, what's needed is more than a shelf but several shelves, similar to that in the case of a bookcase).

I'm seriously hoping for some extra moolah this holiday season (extra because we're seriously making sure that we've got more than enough for the birth of our daughter next month) so that I can finally head off to Paco and find myself a rightly-sized bookshelf that'll occupy a bit of space in the bedroom.

* * * *

A good old friend and former colleague, Joan Pimentel, recently decided to change her surname and in the process married her long-time beau, Joey.

To the new Mr. and Mrs. Joey and Joe League, a big congratulations!!! I was beginning to wonder (along with about a million of our friends and acquaintances) when the two of you would be tying the knot.

Apologies for not being there but I'm sure the occasion was extra-special judging from the pictures I've seen on Facebook.

* * * *

Last week was quite a hectic one and I got a bit tired.

I underwent an almost straight 30-hour shift from Tuesday morning until Wednesday afternoon the next day to finish preparations for the entries the Desk needed to submit for a prestigious public relations contest. It was an overnighter punctuated only by a quick dinner with my wife Tuesday evening and a brief respite at 5:30am to 8am when I went home for quick change of clothing and a quick nap. Then it was back to the office to meet the deadline.

I was able to go home at 5pm already -- culminating the 30 hour stretch.

The next day, we were off to San Fernando, Pampanga for a company event. Walang pahinga :) And it was a rather historic branch opening for the Desk as we were able to bring together bitter political rivals known to never appear in public together. Read for it in the papers one of these days as I'm writing the release for it.

* * * *

Usok, the spec-fic webzine from Rocket Kapre has launched!

The first issue of this planned quarterly webzine features five stories by Filipino spec-fic writers Crystal Koo, Chiles Samaniego, Kenneth Yu, Celestine Trinidad and Yvette Tan. Plus, Usok is now open for submissions with the next issue planned for release February next year. Guidelines here.

And the indefatigable Charles Tan reviews Usok here.

the good ole days in u.p.

Elaine unearthed these old photos back from our college days at UP Diliman. They should've remained buried :)

laiya

The family, along with some friends from the old company, trooped to Laiya, San Juan, Batangas for an early summer weekend. It was an overnight trip and we stayed in a 9-person accommodation called the "Talaba" (Filipino for oyster) in Sigayan Bay Beach Resort.

Below are some pictures from the said weekend trip.

Pictures from top to bottom: a) Swimming was better in the morning during the low-tide compared to the previous night's wet rendezvous. Quite a lot of people were around to enjoy the waters and the sands, b)The Talaba -- our accommodation, air-conditioned room for 9 persons. What's neat about the accommodation was that it allowed you to do your own cooking for an affordable corkage fee unlike in other Laiya resorts where you had to pay for your meals -- no cooking allowed, c) Several of these mushroom-like structures are available along the beach on a first-come, first-served basis, d) Little Ikai and her Auntie off to hit the waters of Laiya, San Juan, Batangas

More pics available at my FaceBook account, folks!

saturday shindig: twitter, legends of zork, sigayan

twittering
Regulars to the Coffee House will notice that there is a new feature just about located to the right of the posts section -- Coffee Twits -- and, yes, I am now on Twitter. Care to follow me? :P I really don't have much of a reason why I had to start twittering but I guess the reason is more because I wanted to "follow" other people like Neil Gaiman and Komikero himself, Gerry Alanguilan as they traverse through life and inform us in 140 characters what they are currently up to. Plus, there are other individuals and personalities who share the same hobbies, likes and passion as I am who are twittering. Fast updates, fast replies, fast info. The twittering is more actually for the fan in me but since the feature to broadcast to the world what you're doing right now is there then use it. I simply copy (and chop down to 140 characters) what I say in my FaceBook status into Twitter.

Serves as content generator as well for this blog when I'm ... uhhh ... busy with something else that I am unable to update this blog more frequently , like ... uhh ... twittering :)


legends of zork
From the creators of Trukz -- that online trucking simulation game -- comes another free online browser game, this time, hitting the funny bones of those gamers who grew up under the likes of Dungeons & Dragons -- Legends of Zork!

Jolt Online has finally launched the game and I started playing this browser-based game only yesterday and have been enjoying the read-and-random-event style of gameplay. Like most adventure RPG, you start off by generating a character, distribute attributes, create a fictional history for your character, and start adventuring.

Each day, you receive a number of action points (AP) that determine the number of actions you can take per day. Once you consume all your AP, you have to wait until the next day for AP to be refilled. Otherwise, you can spend real money and buy more AP from the online Zork store (and that's how Jolt earns money). What makes the game extra interesting despite the lack of animation or actual sword fighting are the illustrations and graphics that help the static web pages come alive.

You never continuously press one keyboard to attack an enemy. All fight actions are determined via random roll generation and within seconds after an encounter, you will be displayed the result -- whether you won or lost including details such as health stats, weapons, and treasures looted. To move about, you use the map. Each entry to one section of the map is an encounter and so far, all of them have been fight with this or that creature and during one exploration of the Dark Forest, I came upon a couple of groups and decided to side with one of them to defeat the others.

But nobody dies in this RPG. When you lose all your health points, it's similar to retreating but you drop all your treasures.

Aside from the hack-en-slash side, you can buy or sell armor and weapons, upgrade your character by training him using skill points earned, join a group adventure, or even battle other players for fame.

LoZ will keep me occupied for the next few days and hopefully, it will continue to surprise me with new location and new stuff to do. My character, a traveling salesman named Lav Shortfella is now at Level 6 and is armed with a toy sword and a pen knife. He is dressed in Kobold cloth for protection and uses a cooking pot as a helmet. I am for him to become a wizard so he has an electric attack for his offensive spell, and a lucky retreat spell for defense.

This is D&D without the need for paper, or other players, or a Dungeon Master.


beach bound
We're beach bound tomorrow for an overnight of relaxing and enjoying and for being with family and friends. The perfect excuse to loaf around and be plain lazy :) We're bound for Laiya, San Juan, Batangas and our destination is a small beach resort called Sigayan Beach Resort. Reason for the choice (as there are other options available like the pricey La Luz or Blue Coral) is mainly cost, and also because they will allow you to cook your own meal and not force you to avail of their package meals. Part of the amenities for several of their cottage is the provision of cooking utensils, a gas stove and eating implements.

Now, I don't swim ... but I can wade :) And there's always something that you can do while on the beach like ... sleep :P But basically, the beach trip is all about having a grand, ole fun family time.

tuesday tattles: welcome, nasty fall, avast! shiver me timbers!

welcome to tuesday tattles
I just realized that I have not yet christened a name for this blog's Tuesday collection of whatsoevers.

There is the Monday Mumblings, the Wednesday Warbles, the Thursday Tidbits, the Friday Frolics, the Saturday Shindigs and the Sunday Whatchamacalits (need to rename this last one) but no such title for Tuesday.

This is not to say that I do not blog on a Tuesday but in this blog's three years of existence, it never fell on a Tuesday for me to write "collectively".

Hence, I christen Tuesdays as Tuesday Tattles. Online Merriam-Webster defines tattle as idle talk, or chatter, or gossip.

Now, that is a good name :)

bucked!
Just five more coffee orders and I will have earned my first ever Starbucks Coffee 2009 Planner.

Yes, I have caught the fever and have been happily plunking down hundreds of pesos for branded coffee and a minute sticker ... almost on a daily basis. I have already spent PHP 1,240 on all those Christmas drinks requirement ... imagine that.

At least now, I will just need to order Caffe Mochas which are way, way a bit cheaper than the PHP 155 Grandes I've ordered daily going back eight straight.

christmas tunes
Thanks to good friend and colleague, Jacqui, I now personally enjoy a good selection of old holiday hits (or at least rendered old-style) whether at the office at home.

While I do enjoy the disco medley of Christmas songs that seems to be the staple everywhere, I personally prefer hearing the likes of Dean Martin, ol Blue Eyes, Nat King Cole, and the like hitting the holiday notes. You can also add in Harry Connick Jr., The Ray Conniff Singers, and Brian Setzer to the mix. But no Michael Boltons, please.

What I do miss right now are those stop-motion animation series Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman which were TV staples when I was still a kid. The last time I saw them was in high school on RPN 9. Since then, I have not seen them on the tube.

nasty fall
Met a bit of an accident last Sunday.

I was backriding on a trike on the way home from Shopwise, hand a clutching a bag of groceries and the other hanging on for dear life on the rear of the trike (the trike had no roof hence, no overhead hand-hold) when on a sharp (and rather fast) turn, I slipped from the backseat and fell hard on my butt.

I actually felt the accident coming and actually tried to gain foot balance as I fell but the momentum was such that I eventually fell on my right side. Just had enough thought to protect my back and head from a nasty bump and managed to jerk my arm to prevent a possible fracture and just managed to scratch and bruise it.

After landing on my butt, my back followed and a split-second later, after realizing I did not sustain life-threatening injuries, I laid my head on the concrete to reassess things.

Of course, that was how Elvie saw me -- spread eagle on the street with my head on the concrete and my hand still clutching the shopping bag -- which freaked her out thinking I had hit my head hard on the cement. Thank goodness I was wearing jeans, otherwise, I would've scrapped my legs as well or worse. Still it was a nasty fall and resulted in a pain in my right butt (most likely bruised on the inside). Stiller, I am thankful that the bruised butt and scratched elbow were all I sustained as injuries.

The last time I met an accident like this was when I was still in elementary when during a sidecar accident, I got dragged and scrapped my right shoulder and hand.

on hiatus
I am on a two-day vacation leave right now.

Absolutely no real reason for the VL but just to use up my leaves of which I still have a handful. So, that makes it a four-day hiatus.

Despite the four-day stretch, it has been a busy weekend. Saturday was spent with my mother-in-law and we shopped some items for her and other relatives. Sunday, after mass, we met up with balikbayan Jean, Elvie's best friend and one of Ikai's ninangs. From Taft, we proceeded to Market Market for some mallrat action.

On the first day of my official VL, I ran an errand for my father in Ortigas in the morning -- get the videoke system fixed for use in the holidays. In the afternoon, Elvie, Ikai and I toured Jean around the new areas of Greenbelt (GB5 included which I only saw yesterday as well).

Today (it's already 1:30am as I write this), no definite plans yet except to check on office emails and if I am up to it (butt willing), go malling (with really no intent to buy anything). But with the promised Fully Booked in GB5 not yet open, my enthusiasm to explore the new areas more thoroughly has been dampened a bit.

old friend
While malling with my family and Jean last Sunday at Market Market, I happened to bump to an old friend, Ina.

It was good to see her again since it has been really years since I last saw her. Recently married (as relayed by friends), it has always been a fond hi and hello moment for both of us since aside from sharing a brief interlude in high school, Ina and I shared the same name (somewhat because her full name's Ramina and mine is Ramelito), we also share the same birthday, February 24.

Yes, quite a coincidence and you can imagine my surprise when I first learned about it during the first day of class when I was but an HS freshman and she a fresh transferee to CSA Binan.

After the briefest of hellos, she proceeds to tell me that so and so has just returned (I assume a classmate of ours who has been abroad) and has asked if I heard about it. I had no idea what she was talking about and I guess she realized that from that perplexed expression she got from me. So, she dropped the topic and just waved goodbye.

tubed
With the promise of an extended vacation this holiday season, it may well be time to finally sit down (or lie down) for some serious tube action.

I've posted here on several occasions that I've still got discs after discs of TV shows and series to watch. This upcoming free days may just be the perfect opportunity to finally do so and get them over and done with.

And there are several new interesting shows that I may adding to my collection soon. Recent interests include Pushing Daisies (although already a cancelled series in the US), Criminal Minds, Dresden Files, and the intriguing Life. I have yet to understand what's the gist of Fringe but from the episode I saw last night on the CS Origin channel, it looks interesting.

avast, shiver me timbers!
Played pirate recently at the annual company Christmas Party.

The theme for this year's party was the Red Carpet Premier -- so that meant movies. Our group was lotteried to dress up and present a skit on the theme fantasy.

For our group's presentation, we did a shortened version (under 7 minutes) of children's fantasy play, Peter Pan. James, who was rather insightful, predicted that everyone else expected us to do Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Carribean. So, to surprise them, we chose to work on a classical children's fantasy. And despite the rather lack of practice, we still managed to earn the judges' nod good enough for third place! I think the synchro swimming recreation did the trick!

I definitely did not look like a pirate from Never Never Land. Especially when I donned my jeans after the performance, I looked more like a hardcore biker -- the dirty type that rides Harleys.

In the photo below, that's me on the leftmost, then Monique dressed as Cruella (from 101 Dalmatians), James in Eragon-inspired attire, Grace as Tiger Lily or Pocahontas (take your pick), and Perds as Captain Jack Sparrow.

mike

This post is being written with a heavy hand and with an even heavier heart.

Very good friend, barkada, partner-in-crime and kumpare, Michael Perea, passed away last Tuesday morning.

And everyone who knew him are in mourning for we have lost a very, very good friend. And yet, despite the sadness, there is also a smile and a sigh of relief that Mike is now free of the worries and the pains that have plagued him these past few months. We would like to believe he is now somewhere better.

Mike exemplified "carpe diem" -- living life to the fullest. He loved good food, loved having a good time, loved joking around, and loved being who he was -- being Mike. While I profess and admit a love affair with coffee, Mike's preferred cup was one laiden with alcohol. He loved to party, loved to be friends and have a darn, jolly, good time.

While I have met and worked with many "Mikes" in this travel of life, the one Mike that will always come to mind when I hear the name will be that guy who I grew close with in my elementary and high school years.

We were always partners-in-crime. We were partners in our HE cooking and baking classes and in one such incident our half-baked cinnamon rolls became instant hits. When we needed to do the fireman's carry for a PE class, our almost similar bulks allowed us to be buhat-buddies. We loved to hang around on weekends with other barkadas on our BMX's, roaming the streets and fields of San Pedro and Binan in Laguna.

We both loved singing and found ourselves as part of a musical chorale, most often, winning in the process. Two such wins were a Christmas chorale contest where we one with our rendition of "Misa de Gallo" and another one was when we dressed in our PMT uniforms, sang a filked version of The Cure's "In Between Days" for Nutrition Month. One memorable musical trip that involved just Mike and myself was when we had the school gym to ourselves and we belted our hearts out singing "Our Lord's Prayer" and other church faves. The echoing acoustics in the vacant gym that day rendered those songs Mike and I sung as if ala Gregorian chant-styled.

Mike was a popular character -- able to fit with any group and flexible to be able to hold conversations with anyone as opposed to my snobby and anti-social attitude. He however became tongue-tied when talking to a girl that captured his fancy and his heart. He was an admitted "torpe" but that was never evident because Mike was always loud, boisterous and joking. He was fun personified. Wherever there was a gimmick, expect Mike to be there present.

Though he had no medals to prove it, everyone knew Mike to be smart -- truly smart and a smart Aleck. He knew his Math and Science and Physics and Algebra -- subjects which I struggled through in high school. He often debated with our acknowledged mathematicians, Ronald, Oliver and Glenn, and had the time of his life when he proved them wrong. His penmanship was awful, that I can remember, but he did write one beautiful piece of music dedicated to a young lady he loved, that too I can remember.

We drifted apart a bit in our college days owing to a self-imposed exile due to circumstances and to the fact that we went to different universities - he to La Salle, I to Peyups. But we never lost the friendship despite months and even years of not being in touch. Whenever we met again, the friendship was always renewed and the fun and laughter rekindled. We went back to our usual roles in the barkada as Mike the joker, and Ram the quiet and serious fella.

I wasn't always there but I heard and learned that Mike continued to live life to the fullest after college and as he started his career in IT and savored every moment that was given to him. When we met, there were no awkward moments because it was just as easy as picking up on our last conversation.

Mike had his battles and always managed to overcame them with a smile and hope in his heart. He never lost the positive attitude that sparked his personality. Those who know Mike can't recall times when the fellow wasn't smiling or joking. It seemed like he was one friend who couldn't be let down. He will always be remembered for that.

Mike did not lose his latest battle. In fact, by letting go, he won. It's us who are left behind who lost the battle. We lost a dear friend.

Godspeed Mike.

lost memories

While fulfilling my duties as the security guard in my folks' home in Laguna while they were away, I tried vainly to rummage through the junk in my former room (turned bodega) to locate precious mementos of my younger days -- letters from friends and those who've I've held dear, movie and concert tickets that stirred up various emotions, various notes on pieces of paper and memo and sticky pads from significant individuals, photos, birthday greetings, various keepsakes and little souvenirs -- only to realize that I cannot, for the several hours I've rummaged, find them.

And I fear that I've lost them forever.

These little stuff, while seeming to be nothing more than junkable stuff to others, tell my story. In a nutshell, one can get a glimpse of who I am, and more likely who I was, with all the things that are contained in that medium-sized filofax. In between the covers of that filofax one can immerse in what things I value most in life. In the concerted junk, one can understand why I am now who I am and what has shaped my entire being.

And unfortunately for me, I've now lost them all.

Elaine would probably be the best person to understand my penchant for keeping things as she herself is another such junkie. Like myself, she is a sentimentalist and a romantic at heart -- always looking back to the past either for help in tackling the now and tomorrow, or for comfort, or for anchorage when the present seems forbidding and unsettling. Still got that box of keepsakes, Layne?

The bulging filofax I lost contains approximately stories and memories of my life from highschool up to college. That's a good eight years of memories down the drain. Definitely no monetary value but rates high on the sentimentality and emotional scales. Included in that bunch were letters and cards I got from my ex-girlfriend who is now my wife plus several movie tickets on dates we've had, and not to mention receipts from the coffee shops we frequently haunted during our courtship years.

Also lost is a bunch of letters from a good friend whose insights to life were always thought-provoking (like how it is that when we write letters we do not talk to the person himself or herself but to a piece of paper or how it is that we learn to understand early on that life is indeed not always fair and that you need to compromise).

Gone as well are various memorabilia from Peyups days including blue books with positive comments from professors, my class cards, my CMC library card, my acceptance letter to UP, among other things.

In junk heaven have gone pictures - highschool ones, college days and I believe, some personal pictures of my younger days when I was no more than a little boy with a rather big head on a small frame. I'm also missing photos of my days in the Lhuillier Group with former officemates which I was sure was also included in between that filofax's cover.

And oh, yes, letters from past loves as well are now in oblivion.

I was meaning to eventually clean up this "mess" actually and just retain the really, really important mementos (those of my wife's and those that I believe would cost something in the future should one of my friends suddenly become famous) but fate (or a rather overzealous cousin who believes cleanliness is the only virtue) played a cruel joke instead.

And now, they're all gone, gone, gone ... whoa whoa whoa.

music man

As I enjoy my last day of a two-day leave from the office checking and answering emails (what kinda vacation leave is that?!) this Friday afternoon, I am listening to a recording of songs which I've composed, sung, guitared, and primitively recorded during my college days -- more than a decade ago.

And I once again go off to a dreamy daze as I remember my long-hair days in Peyups as a member of alt-rock band Hampas Dugo (literally translates into Strike Blood) and former band-mates Wendell (lead vocals), Val (lead guitars), Gen (bass), and Christian (drums). I played the rhythm section and was secondary vocals -- singing my own songs, of course.

Out of the 12 or so pondo songs we had (all originals), two were my compositions -- Gaya-Gaya (Copycat) and Pesimistiko (Pessimistic) -- the rest were written and sung by Wends. And during gigs, my two songs were interspersed in the song line-up to allow Wends to rest his vocal chords because, truth be told, our songs were not the mainstream types. While we were not the type that screamed their lyrics, our originals were more on the heavier side -- mixing heavy metal with a bit of glam and folk. Wends' songs were what I referred to as socially-conscious with titles like Timbangan (Weighing Scales), Bangungot (Nightmare) and Berdugo (Executioner). But he also showed his easy-go-lucky and uhm, gago side, with songs Nabuburat (Pissed Off) and Lango (Drunk).

Gaya-Gaya was probably the most pop-ish in HD's song line-up with traces of E-Heads and Yano in its tune and lyrics. I originally wrote and performed it for a Communications class and somehow, my future band-mates felt it was a good mix. The other song I sung, Pesimistiko, was typical angsty Ram. Originally, a very slow tune, the guys mixed it up during a semi-hiatus I had due to chicken pox and when I returned two weeks later, they arranged Pesimistiko in such a way that it became a precursor of what was to become rap-metal. It became a jazzy fusion thing and was actually fun to sing -- I was almost rapping it, actually.

HD enjoyed a full two years with its original line-up, developing a bit of a cult following in the UP College of Mass Communications where many friends and college-mates watched our performances in and out of campus. We managed a couple of gigs in then Club Dredd Timog and composed and recorded a version of the DZUP station ID. At that time, our contemporaries were Tungaw, Fatal Posporos, Agnus Dei and the now extremely famous and prolific Parokya ni Edgar.

Unfortunately, the band, like I said, lasted only a couple of years as other priorities set in. I was the first to leave the band, opting to concentrate on finishing my degree in four years. A full-time commitment to a band was not what my parents had in mind for me, and I myself didn't see a future whereby a long-haired Ram would still be holding an electric guitar and making the rounds of the rock scene. There was also a falling out between our vocalist and our lead guitars, something that had been brewing for the longest time, and the latter decided to part ways with the band he had co-formed.

Wends, Gen and Christian actually continued with HD even after Val and I left. They picked up a new guitarist and their music became punkier although their heavy metal tone remained. Even after I graduated, Wends led the band into several more gigs until the band had to really dissolve when Wends finally got his diploma in 1998 or early 1999.

Since college, I've not made any attempts at forming a band or becoming part of one. I've been busy with corporate life and now as I have my own family, that has permanently sealed the door to such ventures. I will however welcome an opportunity to sing or play again, just give me enough time to practice. And I will continue to write songs when I can. And I will record all the songs I've thus written so far, along with any other song I will write in the future.

The music man may have left his band, but the man has not left his music.

Cheers, repapips!

wednesday warbles: rig is dead, fic deadline extended, montemar pics, more books, frienster

Deadline Extended
The deadline for submission of entries for Fully Booked's 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards has been moved from the earlier d-date of September 30 to November 3, giving us procrastinators a month and more to finish up our stories, comics, illustrations and short films. Hurray!!!


The Rig is Dead
After just about three weeks after being repaired, the rig has again died down on me. It just decided to stop processing and my suspect is the motherboard -- four fully years of running the impossible has just snuffed out its life. So now, rather than spend thousands repairing the CPU, I'll most probably just buy a new CPU -- probably a dual-core with those new memory module standards, the DDR2s. The thing is of course this will mean spending some moolah -- something I don't have much of at the moment.

I will still try to salvage the rig because its components are still working perfectly (now this is more probable than buying a new CPU) and purchase a new motherboard for it. If and if I do get to buy a new CPU (or a new desktop for that matter) then the old rig might go to pasture in Laguna where it can be put to good use that stow it with me where it'll just sit and collect dust in one corner.


The F-Fever Has Hit Me
I'm sure a lot of my friends and acquaintances and colleagues got a surprise when they opened their inboxes and found a Friendster invite from moi. Surprising because I never was the social networking-type (am not even very sociable at all) and to suddenly get an invite from me -- that's tells you something's up.

Well, the decision to finally create a Friendster account was a result of a momentary soul-searching and one of the few times that the reality and possibility of leaving the P.I. is quite, well, quite becoming a reality. In probably less than a couple of years, I and my little family will be making our ways in what is hopefully the greener pastures of Australia (God willing and pocket money willing) and what little circle of friends and pals I had I wanted to make sure I keep in touch with continuously.

So, friends, click here to view my Friendster account. Pictures forthcoming.


Bookworm
Every time I visit and decide to have a browse at the Booksale branch in Cityland 10 (fronting RCBC on its Dela Costa entrance), I always end up buying, err, a book. The last three trips has yielded a couple of sci-fi anthologies and just this week, a treatise on the Middle Ages entitled "The Waning of the Middle Ages: A Study of the Forms of Life, Thought and Art in France and the Netherlands in the Dawn of the Renaissance". The last title was bought because it can become a good resource for future Middle Ages-related (translate: fantasy) fiction complete with chivalry, sex in the M.A., and codes of honor and how just about every nobility, royalty and knight break it.

Not a month goes by that I do not buy a book and more of ten than not, the book I buy is already a resale or pre-owned in retail speaks. Not that I do not have the money to buy new books (the last new book I bought was the Fritz Leiber one some posts ago), but it's just that trips to these book resellers yields great finds.

And the books, like I've also previously said, are scattered all over the house and I'm sure, one of these days, my wife will notice this and that will be the end of it. I guess, I have to start thinking real hard about getting some book shelves set up so that I'll have a proper place to, err, place my books.


More Montemar Pics
And to end this day's post, here are some more pics of the Montemar outing I took using my phone cam and a toy cam -- an old Polaroid digicam (2.3 megapixels), which unfortunately doesn't compare to the digicams of the new age. From top to bottom: the buses we rode to Montemar; the Welcome Streamer welcomes us at Montemar; Montemar front office; the beach front on a rainy Friday afternoon; colleagues playing beach volleyball in the sand and rain; another shot of the beach with some mountains on the BG; sunset; and a shot of the revelers partying in the evening. I was out of commission the next morning so, no shots whatsoever!

phone cam foto sessions 3

And yet more phone cam photos taken in my wanderabouts. From top to bottom: a sense of religion at the lobby of the Makati Medical Center; office-mates walking in the underpass under Ayala Avenue; RCBC Plaza at night all aglow; the Starbucks branch at Yupangco Building - Reposo when it was still undercon; and a view of Makati from the smoking ledge of RCBC Plaza's 43rd floor.