treaty trick over at bo's this halloween

Now, for some coffee-related promo ...

Our friends over at Bo's Coffee are serving up a treat of a trick for you Halloweeners! From October 22 until November 5, every single receipt P250 at Bo's will entitle you to a complimentary spooky cookie for free!

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.

destination roxas city

Quite obviously I'm no travel writer. I tend to gloss over travel details that would make a blog travel entry quite attractive to kaladkarins (people quite easy to convince to travel) and those whose penchant it is to hit the trail or catch the next flight to the next vacation destination.

This is part true of my latest sojourn that involved Desk-work in Iloilo and then in Roxas.

After my one night in Iloilo City, I hightailed it out of the city the earliest possible time I could manage (around 7:30am) to catch the bus to Roxas City, some two hours away, I was told.

I underestimated the traffic from the city proper to Tagbak (which took some 45 minutes, with the cab avoiding horrendous city traffic caused by ongoing road repairs), where the central bus terminal was located, and failed to catch the 8:00 bus for Roxas. The next bus left at a few minutes before 9:00am.

The bus I took was the direct route from Iloilo City to Roxas City but the travel still took about 2 hours and 45 minutes, roughly. Again, because of the numerous road repairs that somehow were simultaneously on-going as if the budget for such tasks were only released earlier that week! It also did a short stop mid-route (forgot the name of the town) but the real time-wasters were the one-laners where the bus had to wait for minutes because there was only one road lane passable.

Forgive me if I don't have the appropriate travel pictures. I'm not much of a photographer and I admit, I don't have the "eye" to spot interesting stuff. When I try to take pictures, they end up bland, plain, un-dramatic, and flat. I can't seem to capture the so-called essence (not unlike my pal, Wendell, or my former colleague Jen -- see the Roving Shutter Bug blog).

Old-style architecture of Presidents Inn

In any case, half of the office contingent were booked at Presidents Inn, a popular hotel in Roxas City.

Just three stories high, the hotel is so-named because Roxas City is the birthplace of Manuel Roxas, the First Philippine Republic President who, according to the hotel's website, was born just a block away. It's obviously Spanish-Filipino in design and architecture and what makes the hotel ideal, at least to us who work at the Desk, it's just a block and a corner away from our Roxas City branch.

I got the Laurel Suite, a full deluxe, which simply blew me away with its simple elegance. In fact, all the suite rooms, I believe, are named after Philippine presidents as I saw a Macapagal room, a Quezon, and an Estrada. It was even better than the room I stayed in the night before in Iloilo.

Laurel Suite -- full deluxe room

My room had a full-size bed that would be comfy enough for two persons but was advertised as just for one. The room was homey and just bordered on the edge of luxury -- not too much but just enough to pamper you. While the bed dominated the space, there was more than ample space to walk around. Cable TV was powered by Sky Cable so it was a treat to be able to watch the History Channel during the down times of my two-day stay in Roxas.

I do wished the room allowed for a white light bulb. Lighting was provided by the two table lamps casting a yellowish light all around even during the day. But other than the lighting, I had no complaints as the room was swell. 

The hotel had free wi-fi but the signal was limited. There was no problem accessing the wi-fi from the resto but in my room, wi-fi signal was at best only at 36% -- and this was when I was standing by the room's door. Moving inwards meant losing the signal. So, feeling sheepish that I was standing by the door trying to position the PSP for better signal reception, I quit and just decided to go downstairs where I could properly sit down.

Being the seafood basket of the Philippines, Roxas City was the place to go to if you want your cholesterol levels to go up. Two eating trips to different restos located at Baybay (bayside) resulted into food binges on crabs, seafood kare-kare, shrimps, kilawing tanigue, fish broth, and Roxas' own diwal or Angel Wing, a mollusc delicacy. Sadly, no photos of the food I consumed as my hands were busy (the tradition is, at least according to our branch manager, you eat with your hands).

A surprise eating establishment however was the resto at Presidents Inn itself. On our second day in Roxas, my colleagues and I decided to just have lunch at the hotel as our presence was needed in the branch for most of the day. The fare was simple -- grilled squid, spicy prawns, and fried chicken -- but they were surprisingly deliciously-cooked.

Across the street from the hotel, I espied a small unassuming shop and with some time to kill, I decided to check it out. Turns out, the small shop was a food shop selling sweet delicacies and pastries. Called "Mamaitas", its signage claimed it offered "old fashioned desserts". Inside were cheesecakes, tarts, pies, and other bite-sized pastries.

Old fashioned but certainly delightful!

Since I did not read of any endorsement online, I wasn't expecting much but was curious enough to try out its delights. So, I bought myself a slice of their home-made cheesecake, a slice of their cassava cake, and two custard tarts. Went back to the hotel, ordered a cup of brew and proceeded to taste-test the cheesecake (saved the cassava and the custards for an evening snack, just in case).

The cheesecake was unlike the usual cheesecake. It was literally a cheesecake -- a moist cake flavored with cheese! And the custard tarts and cakes which I ate as post-midnight snack where equally delicious. Too bad that the store opened at 8am and I had to catch the 7am flight so no chance to bring home some of those goodies.

Cassava cake with 2 custard tarts, taken out

One thing I got addicted to however, during my stay in Roxas, particularly in the Presidents Inn was their hot chocolate. This was native hot choco, a tablea slowly melted down with water and served hot. It was awesome -- not too sweet, just the right hint of bitterness, absolutely savory for a chocolate. It took 15-20 minutes for your order to arrive but it was well-worth the wait.

So, while the seafood was the supposed highlight of anyone's trip to Roxas, I was more delighted with the pastries from Mamaita's and the hotel's hot chocolate. And oh, you can also count on the fried chicken from Presidents Inn as well.

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.

tuesday tidbits: resurrecting the 6680, abe lincoln is a vampire hunter, freakangels, the bibliophile bug itch

There is this post that I've done last week before I left for Kidapawan about my frustrations here at the Desk. I've debated about posting it for public consumption and finally sealed it as "DEFERRED". My feelings about the issue remain to this day (I am still very much frustrated) but I'm keeping the post in reserve for when I finally have had enough of the stupidity and absurdity of things.

On now to other stuff ...

* * * *

Since it will be some time before I get hold off an Android-powered phone (unless some good soul gifts me with one), I'm resurrecting my Nokia 6680. The main reason why I decided to forego it a whiles back was because of the fast battery drain. Over lunch, I got myself a new battery for it along with a spanking black housing. It still worked! However, after just an hour of use, the battery was already draining and it's supposed to last three days on standby mode.

Remembering how the old battery became discharged and bloated, I did a quick search online with a query of "6680 battery draining fast" on Yahoo Search and I was rewarded with an answer -- battery is draining fast most likely because the phone is "shorting" it. This would be the likely case, says the forum answerer, if your battery looked bloated. Which was exactly what my last battery looked out. The solution was to have the phone checked and the short-circuiting fixed. Otherwise, I'll just end up buying battery after battery.

Hopefully, the local repairmasters here in the P.I. would be able to fix this dilemma so that I can get back to using my trusty 6680. And then I'll likely hand over the SE T303 I'm currently using to my sis-in-law so that she can replace her old 3100.

* * * *

I surprised myself recently by finishing a book in less than a week, more specifically just under five days. This is such a rare feat by yours truly as the last time I've finished a book that quick was in 2005 when I was out of work and staying at home all day long.

The book I'm talking about is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, a mash-up (new term for me too, folks) which I bought last June 29 and finished reading last Saturday afternoon, July 2.

I've seen the book before on previous trips to bookstores I frequently haunt and was always curious what this was all about since the front cover had the portrait of old Abe Lincoln standing all regal and elegant but the back cover had him holding an ax and a severed head of a vampire. I finally bought the book last week because I wanted to satiate my curiousity and that this could be a good reference of sorts for a new personal project I'm working on. I didn't count on the book being a mash-up though.

Have to admit that I'm a sucker for history stuff, even fictional ones (like the chronological listing of events following the War of the Ring that can be found on the back of The Return of the King), thus I guess that's the reason I finished this book in record time. Add to that, Abe Lincoln was probably one of my earliest historic heroes -- I was exposed to the American president's exploits before I even heard of Jose Rizal (unfortunately true, honest). And this is my first vampire book, ever. I've never been fond of vampires and stories about them even though Twilight and Ms Stephanie Meyer made vamps sexy. But the way how the book was written -- ala diary entries of Abe Lincoln about his vampire-hunting days on his "secret journals" -- saved the book for me and I found myself enjoying it.

Will try and do a review of the book soon while the story is still fresh on my mind. Imagine the wickedness of the author to mash up a historic figure such as Abe Lincoln with something extra-ordinary such as vampires and vampire hunting. That's cross-genre, indeed.

* * * *

Like I said earlier, I went to Kidapawan for Desk work.

Didn't get to go around the city as much as there wasn't really much to go around to in the first place. While Kidapawan is categorized as a city, don't expect to find the comforts of city life here. Local shops abound but the only branded establishment that one would recognize would be Jollibee. When people wanted to shop for branded stuff, they took the trip to Davao (4 hours via public commute, 2 hours by private vehicle).

However, the idea that Kidapawan is a dangerous place is, in my opinion, a bit exaggerated. While I didn't stay long (only one night), the city was generally peaceful during my stay. There was a bombing incident that took place earlier last week but our branch personnel said that the incident happened some ways out of the city proper and that the bombers just abandoned their getaway vehicle within the city limits. Nevertheless, our branch personnel weren't taking any chances and they insisted on bringing me to the doors of my hotel when we finished our pre-event meeting at 8pm.

Well, better safe than sorry, I guess.

* * * *

As mentioned on the upper right corner of this blog, I'm currently reading FreakAngels, a free, weekly web-comic written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Paul Duffield.

The web comic follows the lives of the FreakAngels, 11 individuals with telekinetic, teleportation, and psychic powers who caused armaggedon to happen and what happens to them thereafter. According to reports, Ellis got the idea from John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned).

I'm a fan. If you're not, head on over to FreakAngels.

* * * *

The bibliophile bug is itching.

After finishing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, I found myself at Fully Booked Rockwell last Saturday purchasing a copy of Kevin J. Anderson's The Edge of the World, the first volume in his Terra Incognita series. I had to restrain myself from also buying the sequel.

I think before the week is out, I might end up buying another book or two. And just to satisfy the craving while keeping within means, I think a trip to Booksale is in order.

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.

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.

wednesday warbles: hk, website stuff, comics, freedom fighter,

If I have been quiet of late (again), it's mainly because my online attention has been ensuring PinoyHomes4You.com is running smoothly. And I'm still in the midst of adding more content, not to mention, bells and whistles to the site to make it more attractive.

This project is a joint project between me and my wife for purposes of additional financial rewards. Mind you, I am no web designer ... this website runs on Blogger and is basically a blog running a custom domain. Of course, the finality needed a little adjustment (and probably more tweaking in the future) of the HTML code but this is basically a blog template enhanced.

It's like this blog you're reading ... much of the work is done by Blogger's great blogging CMS-styled software ... being able to edit the HTML was a welcome bonus.

What follows next would be to apply all the learnings I've gained from almost five years of online marketing into the site to make it a success. That would be the harder part!

* * * *

The image on the left is a shot of the Bank of China Tower (left) and the Cheung Kong Center shot in Central in Hong Kong Island during last month's trip.

I'll be uploading more photos of our trip to HK on my Facebook, photos that were not posted by my sister in hopes of adding variety to the trip.

Even though it's been over a month since the HK trip, I've still got HK on my mind and Elvie and I hope to go there again, next year, time and budget permitting.

The place where we stayed, Lee Garden House along Cameron Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon was a great location -- nearby Nathan Road and an MTR, a few blocks from the bargain "bangketa" shops, and a little further would the more upscale shops (with nooks and crannies filled with eateries, trinket shops, money exchange shops, etc.). The staff, including a couple of Pinays, were quite friendly and they helped us secure tickets to Disneyland HK.

Like most hostels, the rooms were small but comfortable. In any case, you won't be staying for extending periods of time in your room as there are a lot of places to go to in HK. And what's great about Lee Garden was the free wi-fi. You just had to get the password from Mr. Chan and you're off to cyberspace (however, I was out of the hostel for most of the time or otherwise babysitting, hence the lack of updates while in HK).

Still a lot of places to go to and surprises to unravel the next time we hit HK. Next time, we'll be better prepared :)

* * * *

While my rummaging through my CD and DVD piles last weekend, I espied my copy of the turn-of-the-century game, Freedom Fighter.

I had been looking for the game for a couple of years now (trigger-finger itch) and when I found it amidst the cases of my music CDs, I was ecstatic.

The last time I played Freedom Fighter was about five years ago on my old P4 rig. Back then, while the game played well on P4 and Nvidia, there were times it dragged. On my CQ40, it runs smoothly!!!

I've already finished this game once but re-playing it would be fun ... an action-filled distraction from all the FB games I've been playing of late. Will be enjoying this game for quite some time, for sure.

* * * *

Been feasting on comics and graphic novels lately ... just re-read Identity Crisis, Kick Ass, Kingdom Come, and Watchmen. Also devoured Underpass, the Summit Media comics anthology, and a few more comics I've bought recently from the sale bins of Filbar's and Planet X.

Will likely be reading tons more as I've still got several stuff stowed away including Tom Strong, Battle for the Cowl, Civil War, Final Crisis, the Ultimates, Losers, and several Batman and Superman novels like Red Son, Batman: Year One, War of the Supermen, and Frank Miller's Dark Knight novels. I've just started reading Transmetropolitan as well.

And I will be re-reading Blackest Night as well, just to make sure I digested everything.

Noticed how biased I am to DC comics?

* * * *

I will be uploading sketches soon, promise!

* * * *

Sheesh, 12:24am ... what was supposed to be a Tuesday Tidbits now turns into Wednesday Warbles ... time to sleep, good day, folks!